The album pretty much threw Biggie into the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud of the ’90s, making him a central figurehead. He is considered one of the greatest rappers and hip-hop artists of all ...

Biggie started climbing the stairs to success almost too fast, and a 21-year-old kid needs guidance in order to deal with that kind of fame and money. Just like Jerry Heller for NWA and the Colonel ...

One of the more positive moments of their friendship was when Biggie’s debut album, “Ready to Die,” exploded onto the scene in September 1994.

Despite his towering presence in hip hop, Biggie only released one studio album while alive. His debut, Ready to Die, came out in 1994 and solidified his reputation as a powerful storyteller with a ...

Possibly the greatest "pure" soul singer in American history, Sam Cooke's career was on the rise after a string of hits when he was shot to death on Dec. 11, 1964, at age 33 in a seedy L.A. motel ...

He went from Def Jam to a Mets jam. The legendary Def Jam graphic artist who created the cover of Biggie Small’s “Ready to Die” has been reimagining the Mets’ logo in a colossal collage he ...

The musician — born Christopher George Latore Wallace on May 21, 1972, in Brooklyn, N.Y. and also known as Biggie Smalls — released his debut album Ready to Die in 1994 and posthumously ...

B.I.G.’s debut album, Ready to Die (1994) was a colossal success, drawing audiences in with its versatile mix of tracks with mainstream appeal like “Juicy,” “Big Poppa” and “One More ...

Voletta Wallace, mother of the late rapper Biggie Smalls (inset), is pictured at the unveiling of a mural honoring her son on Flushing Ave. in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019.

Voletta Wallace, mother of rapper The Notorious B.I.G. who kept her son's legacy alive, died at her Pennsylvania home at age 78.

Ms. Wallace in 2019 at a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Notorious B.I.G.’s album “Ready to Die” in Brooklyn. Arturo Holmes/Getty Images ...

The Biggie one made me cry. Because it was, like, stupid, and it was centered on hip-hop — like, for rapping. That one hurt me. It scared me, too. But yeah, I’m not going there.