The Lives and Deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac - Part 1

In the fall of 1996, the hip hop world would lose one of it’s icons. 6 months later, they would lose another. Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, The Notorious B.I.G., were icons and revolutionized the music industry. Their deaths shocked the world and changed the face of music forever. Over the years, many have attempted to solve these cases, but they remain unsolved.

Biggie and Tupac

Between September of 1996 and March of 1997, there were several cultural events that took place. To name a few:

Sept 8th 1996, Blues Clues premiered on Nick Jr.
November 5th 1996, Bill Clinton wins the Presidential election, for his second term
November 16th 1996, Space Jam is released in theaters
December 25th 1996, The death of JonBenet Ramsey
February 5th 1997, A civil jury finds OJ Simpson liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman
February 28th 1997, The North Hollywood shootout

Two bookends to these events are the murders of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, The Notorious B.I.G. To start, let’s take a look at who these two were and where they came from.

Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks, on June 16th, 1971, to Afeni Shakur (mother) and Billy Garland (father). When he was around one year old, his mother changed his name to Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was named after a descendant of the last Incan ruler, Túpac Amaru. His mother would later say, “I wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, indigenous people in the world. I wanted him to know he was part of a world culture and not just from a neighborhood.” From a very early age, his mother wanted to instill in him that he was bigger than his immediate surroundings. There was more to the world than just their Harlem neighborhood. He had an older step-brother and a half sister that was two years younger than him.

Both of Tupac’s parents were involved in the Black Panther party in the late 60’s and early 70’s. In fact, a month before he was born, his mother Afeni was put on trial in New York City as part of the Panther 21 criminal trial. She was acquitted of over 150 charges. Other members of the family involved in the Black Panther party served time in prison. His step father, Mutulu Shakur, was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for 4 years and was convicted of robbing an armored truck in 1981 that resulted in the deaths of a guard and police officers. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Tupac’s godfather was a high ranking member of the Black Panther party and convicted of murdering a school teacher during a robbery. His sentence was overturned when it was revealed that the prosecution hid evidence that he was in a meeting 400 miles away at the time of the murder / robbery.

In the mid 1980s, his family moved from NYC to Baltimore, Maryland. He spent 8th grade at a local middle school, then two years in a local high school. After that, he transferred to the Baltimore School for the Arts. While there, he studied acting, poetry, jazz, and ballet. He acted in Shakespeare plays. He played the mouse king in The Nutcracker. He would regularly win competitions as the school’s best rapper. He was well known for his humor and mixed in with all of the groups or cliques.

While at the arts school, Tupac met a young Jada Pinkett Smith, just Jada Pinkett at the time. The two became fast friends, and she would be his muse occasionally as he would write poetry about her. After his death, she would go on to say, “He was one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime.”

The Notorious B.I.G. / Biggie Smalls / Biggie

Christopher Wallace was born on May 21st, 1972 to Jamaican immigrant parents Voletta Wallace (mother) and Selwyn George Latore (father). When he was just two years old, his father abandoned the family. His mother worked two jobs for years to make ends meet. While in middle school, he excelled and won several awards as an English student. It was also around this time that he gained the nickname “Big,” because he was overweight at a young age. He would claim later that he began dealing drugs at 12 years old.

With his mother working two jobs, he was free to come and go throughout the day, but all of his friends look back and laugh, because when it was time for her to get off the train after working for the day, Biggie would always make his way back home on time. Voletta did everything she could to raise her son right and was tough on him when she needed to be. She would make him sit on the steps of their apartment building during the days she was home, and not go out running the streets with his friends.

He began rapping as a teenager and performed with a few local groups. His first MC name was “MC CWest.” It was also around this time that he asked his mother if he could transfer from his school to George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Downtown Brooklyn. This is notable, because at the time, the school had a few students who would grow up and become notable rappers in their own right. Biggie attended school with DMX, Busta Rhymes, and Jay-Z. His mother said that while he attended the new school, he developed a “smart ass” attitude, but he was still a good student. At 17 years old, he dropped out of high school and began to focus on a life of crime, mostly dealing drugs.

Biggie’s main focus was still trying to become an artist and make it big, but he saw how the guys in the neighborhood were making money selling drugs and decided to start doing it himself for financial freedom. It didn’t take long for him and his crew to become the biggest dealers in their neighborhood and surrounding areas. During one interview in the Netflix documentary “Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell,” it’s revealed that they were making upwards of $7000 per week.

The drug dealing continued for a while, and Biggie did everything he could to hide it from his mother, knowing she would flip the FFFF out if she found out. By this time, she was working 9-5 as a teacher, and the corner where they would work was right near her train stop, with a view down Fulton Street, where you could see a large clock in Brooklyn. They would keep an eye on the time, and when it was time for her train to arrive, Biggie would rush home to beat her there.

One day though, Voletta was home and doing some cleaning. She went into Christopher’s room and couldn’t believe how dirty it was, so she went about cleaning it up. She saw on the window seal that there was a plate with some old food sitting on it. Voletta dumped the food in the trash and cleaned the dishes from his room. When he got home and went towards his room, Voletta chastised him about leaving a plate in this window with old mashed potatoes on it to dry and get stuck to the plate. What she didn’t realize was that Christopher had left some crack on the plate to dry out before they sold it. When he told her what it was, she was pissed. She went as far as to kick him out of the house. He promised to stop dealing, but that was too little, too late. Even after he was kicked out of his home, he kept dealing for a little while.

In 1989, Big was arrested on weapons charges and sentenced to five years of probation. In 1990, he was arrested again and found to be in violation of that probation. A year later, he was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He would serve 9 months in jail before being able to post bail. After he was released from jail, he returned home to New York City and began working on a demo tape. He decided that he was going to give music a legitimate shot and put everything he could into it.

Tupac’s Career

Now, let’s take a look at where Tupac got his start, and his meteoric rise to stardom. In 1980, he began his career as MC New York. That same year, he began to attend poetry classes that were given by Leila Steinberg. Shortly after he began attending her classes, Steinberg became his manager. After organizing a concert for Tupac and his group, Strictly Dope, she managed to get him signed by Atron Gregory, the manager of the rap group Digital Underground. Gregory put Tupac out on tour with the group as a roadie, and he quickly became a dancer for the group. Eventually he worked his way up to being an MC on stage with the group, and he was featured on one of their singles, “Same Song,” credited as 2Pac. The single would go on to be featured on their 1991 EP titled, “This is an EP Release,” and featured on the soundtrack for the movie “Nothing But Trouble,” starring Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Demi Moore.

After gaining notoriety with Digital Underground, the next step was for Tupac to record his first album, 2Pacalypse Now, a reference to the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now. This album is regarded by many to be one of the most influential to be released. Many rappers cite it as the inspiration for their own music, including Eminem, Nas, The Game, and Talib Kweli. This album would not come and go without some controversy. In Texas, 19 year old Ronald Ray Howard had been pulled over by a state trooper, Bill Davidson. During the traffic stop, Howard gunned Davidson down, killing him. He was listening to the 2Pacalypse Now album. Davidson’s widow would say to the press:

“There isn’t a doubt in my mind that my husband would still be alive if Tupac hadn’t written these violent, anti-police songs and the companies involved hadn’t published and put them out on the street,”

“I’m sure Tupac has no feelings for me or what happened to my husband. He obviously has a great anger toward law enforcement. All he cares about is singing his songs and making his money, no matter who he hurts.”

Howard would be convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He was executed on October 6th, 2005 in Huntsville, Texas by lethal injection. Reacting to the situation, then Vice President Dan Quayle said, “There’s no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society.”

To which Tupac responded, “I just wanted to rap about things that affected young Black males. When I said that, I didn’t know that I was gonna tie myself down to just take all the blunts and hits for all the young Black males, to be the media’s kicking post for young Black males.”

Even with all the controversy, the album would be certified Gold, meaning it sold over 500 thousand copies and is still considered relevant to the plight of young african american men to this day. In February of 1993, Tupac would release his second studio album, “Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.Z….” (commonly referred to as “The Strictly Album.”) The album would be a critical and commercial success, featuring Ice Cube of N.W.A, and Ice T of.. Ice Loves CoCo. Just a joke, Ice T is also an accomplished rapper who has been in the industry and found monstrous success for decades. This album would be certified platinum, with over a million copies sold, and features the single, “Keep Ya Head Up.” This single is collectively referred to as an anthem for women’s empowerment.

Late 1993, Tupac formed the group Thug Life with a few other rappers, including his step brother, Mopreme Shakur. They would go on to release their only album, “Thug Life: Volume 1” in October of 1994, and it would sell over 500K copies, certified gold.

In March of 1995, Tupac released his third album, “Me Against the World,” which is often regarded as his “magnum opus.” Selling 240K albums within its first week of release, this album featured the single “Dear Momma,” and was certified platinum in July of 1995, surpassing over a million copies sold. At the 1996 Soul Train Music Awards, it won for best hip hop / rap album.

While he was busy in the studio and creating music, Tupac also had the opportunity to act in a few movies. His first official film appearance was in the comedy “Nothing But Trouble,” with the group Digital Underground, as they had a brief cameo in the movie. Next, he was tapped to star opposite Omar Epps in “Juice.” After that starring role, Tupca’s star in Hollywood began to rise. John Singleton had written the script for “Poetic Justice,” and had just finalized talks to have Janet Jackson star. Opposite of her, he initially had offered the role to Ice Cube, whom he had worked with on “Boyz N The Hood.” Ice Cube passed, saying “Man, I can’t do no romance.” Singleton’s next choice was Tupac, who he had recently seen in an advance screening of “Juice.”

Tupac jumped at the chance to work with Janet Jackson, and they quickly put together a screen test. Their chemistry was off the charts, and the movie proceeded. Recently, John Singleton spoke about talking to Tupac during filming and telling him that he should give up rap and focus on acting. He told him he was an ok rapper (This was years before Tupac released “Me Against The World.), but he was a better actor. Tupac’s response was, “Fuck you, Hip Hop is my voice.” Singleton also said, “I’m the stupidest person in the world to be telling Pac that.”

After Poetic Justice, he would be in “Above the Rim.” After his death, there were 3 more films released that he starred in: Bullet (1996), Gridlock’d (1997), and Gang Related (1997). Originally, director Allen Hughes had him cast in Menace II Society, but replaced him in the film when Tupac assaulted him on set over a script dispute. John Singleton had also planned to have him star in 2001’s “Baby Boy” before his death, a role that was given to Tyrese Gibson. In the film, as an homage to Tupac, Tyrese’s character’s room has a mural of Tupac on the wall.

So, it’s easy to see that Tupac’s star was not only on the rise, but taking off like a rocket. He was sought after by acclaimed directors in film, and the music industry couldn’t wait for his next album.

Tupac the criminal

Tupac wasn’t just rapping about a life he didn’t live. We will touch here on crimes that he committed or had a hand in. In 1991, he was actually suing the city of Oakland Police Department for $10 million dollars. Here it is, in his own words, from an interview about the incident with acclaimed hip hop writer Davey D…

Davey D: Can you talk about your recent encounter with police brutality at the hands of the Oakland PD?
Tupac: We’re letting the law do its job. It’s making its way through the court system. We filed a claim.
Davey D: Recount the incident for those who don’t know.
Tupac: For everyone who doesn’t know, I, an innocent young black male, was walking down the streets of Oakland minding my own business and the police department saw fit for me to be trained or snapped back into my place. So they asked for my ID and sweated me about my name because my name is “Tupac.” My final words to them was “fuck y’all.” Next thing I know I was in a chokehold passing out with cuffs on, headed for jail for resisting arrest. Yes, you heard right—I was arrested for resisting arrest.
Davey D: Where is all this now?
Tupac: We’re in the midst of having a $10 million dollar lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department. If I win and get the money, then the Oakland Police department is going to buy a Boys Home, me a house, my family a house, and a ‘Stop Police Brutality Center’ and other little odd things like that.

In the end, they settled for $43,000.

August 22nd, 1992: After performing at an outdoor festival, Tupac met with fans, signed autographs, and posed for photos for about an hour. After a bit, a conflict broke out, and Tupac brandished a legally owned and carried Colt Mustang pistol. After drawing it, he dropped it on the ground, when someone from his crew picked it up, it accidentally discharged. 100 yards away at a school yard, 6 year old Qa’id Walker-Teal was fatally shot in the forehead while riding his bicycle. Police tracked the bullet to Tupac’s pistol, and his step brother was arrested. Due to a lack of witnesses, no charges were filed. In 1995, Walker-Teal’s mother filed a wrongful death suit against Tupac, and settled for 300K to 500K.

October 1993: In Atlanta, two brothers, Mark Whitwell and Scott Whitwell (off duty police officers), were out celebrating with their wives, since one had passed the Georgia bar exam. After leaving a restaurant, they were intoxicated and went to cross the street. As they did, a vehicle came down the road and almost hit them. They exchanged words with the occupants of the vehicle, one of which happened to be Tupac Shakur. A second car arrived, and the Whitwells turned to run away. As they ran, Tupac shot one in the buttocks, and the other in the back. This is where it gets a little sketchy… Both of the officers were found to be in possession of stolen firearms, and Mark Whitwell was charged with firing at Tupac’s car. From what I’ve been able to find, here’s what went down:

By the time the second car showed up, the passengers in the first car were out and on the road yelling back and forth with the Whitwells. When the second car stopped, Mark pulled out his gun and *according to some sources* shot at Tupac’s car. This is when they turned to run, and Tupac returned fire. Mark Whitwell was charged with firing at Tupac’s car and making false statements to investigators. Tupac was charged with the shootings as well. Eventually, all charges were dropped, citing that Tupac acted in self defense. The Whitwells later filed civil suits against Shakur. Mark’s was settled out of court, while Scott’s went to trial and he won a $2 million dollar settlement. Eventually, the lawsuit resulted in a default judgement against the estate of Tupac.

Also in 1993, Tupac was charged with assaulting a fellow rapper, Chauncey Wynn. Wynn claimed that he threw a microphone and swung a baseball bat at him. He pleaded guilty in Sept of 1994 and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 35 hours community service. Earlier in 1994, Shakur served 15 days in jail for assaulting director Allen Hughes on the set of Menace II Society.

November 1993: Tupac and 3 other men were charged with sexually assaulting a woman in his hotel room. The woman said that she had consensual oral sex with Tupac in the bathroom, then left the room. She later returned, where she was raped by him and the other men. On December 1st, 1994, he was convicted of 1st degree sexual abuse and was sentenced to 18 months to 4.5 years in prison.

FOR PART TWO, CLICK HERE!