For a moment on Friday, Biggie Smalls was the only man on stage. A spotlight shone on him in his red velvet suit, and amid pre-recorded cheers, he rapped the lyrics to “Mo Money Mo Problems ...

On Sept. 13, 1994, the same day President Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls, or the Notorious B.I.G ...