B.I.G.'s 1997 Murder Still Hurts

CLEVELAND - Between 1994 and 1997, a young man from Brooklyn, N.Y. rapidly became a rap phenomenon and soon, an icon of popular music. Physically, I was being compared to him early and often.

I hated it.

Today marks the 12th anniversary of the murder of The Notorious B.I.G. (nee Christopher Wallace) and years ago I became aware of his legacy. That made me proud to be compared to him, even if the comparisons were meant to be cruel. Wallace, with his formidable 6'3," 380 pound frame was even larger in rap music. He wasn't simply "a rapper," he was precision personified on the mic. When he was gunned down in a still unsolved drive-by shooting on that March 9, 1997 day in Los Angeles, the music industry suffered a cataclysmic loss of staggering proportions, even though it still doesn't realize it.

As I've stated many times, I wasn't a fan of rap music until Eminem came around in 1999. When Biggie was dominating the charts (and car stereos), I paid little attention. Make no mistake though; I knew of him...I just didn't know how amazing he truly was. Biggie's obvious skill for vivid storytelling was the catalyst in Bad Boy Records founder and CEO Sean Combs becoming so enamored with the young man. Combs, 23 at the time, signed B.I.G. to his label with a plan of making history, which they did. Combs (popularly known as "Puff Daddy" at the time) was just the ambitious and relentlessly focused leader that Biggie needed to steer him to superstardom.

They greatly benefited from each other and dominated.

B.I.G.'s critically acclaimed debut, Ready to Die catapulted him to the forefront of rap music. Prior to that point, the West coast seemed to monopolize the genre with their great roster of talent, especially once megastar Tupac Shakur (2Pac) joined Death Row Records in late 1995.  

With Biggie's star rising and Shakur in jail for most of '95, the stage was set for a very competitive 1996. Tragically, Shakur was murdered in September and B.I.G. was seriously injured in a car accident. It was six months later in '97 that Biggie was killed and everything changed.

Of course, B.I.G.'s second album, Life After Death was brilliant. He'd clearly refined his already stunning skill set to near perfection and developed a keen diversity in his subject matter. When the LP hit shelves on March 25, 1997, it was a bittersweet moment because of its epic quality and scope coupled with the knowledge that the man would never again bless us with his greatness.

It was awful.

Combs has become an extremely successful entrepreneur in the dozen years since that horrific night. Now known as "Diddy," the 39-year old mogul has amassed a fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars and a legacy worthy of encyclopedic inclusion. The specter of Biggie's murder still looms though, even for Combs himself. Last night, the tycoon was driving through the streets of L.A. and lamented the still painful loss of his friend and colleague. "I couldn't sleep so I was driving down Sunset [Blvd.] blasting Life After Death," he wrote on Twitter. "It feels surreal...it's my first year in L.A. on March 9 since '97. Miss you..."

Combs isn't the only one that misses B.I.G.