Voletta Wallace poses for a photo with a wax figure of her son, Biggie Smalls вЂњIвЂ™m definitely a writer,вЂќ he added of his skill. Combs signed the baritone-voiced rapper immediately, taking him to his new label, Bad Boy Records, when it launched in 1993, вЂњвЂ™cause he said it sounded like I could just rhyme forever,вЂќ Smalls told Rolling Stone in 1995. With friends, Smalls made demos in his basement, one of which was passed to the Unsigned Hype column editor at The Source magazine before catching the ear of Sean вЂњPuffyвЂќ Combs who was working at Uptown Records. By age 13 he was nearly six feet tall and heavyset, his physical presence earning him the childhood nickname вЂњBigвЂќ which he would capitalize on in his emcee career as Biggie Smalls, Big Poppa and the Notorious B.I.G. Interested in rap from a young age, he began performing with local rap crews including the Old Gold Brothers where his skill with words - both verbal and written - was soon being celebrated and appreciated. Such encounters with the law and his honesty regarding his drug dealing helped Smalls construct a gangsta rap persona built on authenticity. He was arrested in 1995 on robbery and aggravated assault charges and again in 1996 when police found marijuana and firearms in his home. вЂњI read this thing and said, вЂHuh? I never knew.'вЂќДЄrrested on weapons possession charges in 1989, he received a five-year probationary sentence he violated the following year after that Smalls was charged with dealing cocaine in North Carolina and spent nine months behind bars.

вЂњI found out about my son and his little antics through his music and through magazines,вЂќ she told The New York Times. Smalls began dealing drugs around the age of 12, plying trade along BrooklynвЂ™s Fulton Street, activities his mother says she was unaware of.

He used his early experiences to help create an authentic rap persona

Ready to die biggie smalls release date