Childhood
Born in the South Bronx of Puerto Rican descent during the early years of hip-hop, Christopher Rios grew up enjoying basketball, boxing, and other sports. He met his wife Liza in the eighth grade. At the age of five, he broke his leg in a Manhattan municipal park, resulting in a lawsuit against the City of New York, later settled out of court. He received a lot of money in compensation. By all accounts from Pun's family, his early years were very difficult, including witnessing his mother's drug abuse, his father leaving the family, and a stepfather who was very hard on Pun. According to his grandmother, Pun would become angry and self-destructive, punching holes in the walls of his family's apartment and eating the chunks of drywall rocks . At the age of 17, Rios dropped out of Stevenson High School and for some time was homeless, staying in abandoned buildings or at friends' homes.
Career
Sometime during the '80s, he formed the Full a Clips Crew with Triple Seis, Prospect and Cuban Link who was at the time named "Lyrical Assassin". At this point Big Pun was operating under the alias Big Moon Dawg. Rios met fellow Puerto Rican and Bronx rapper Fat Joe in 1995 and made his commercial debut on Joe's second album, Jealous One's Envy, in addition to appearing on a b-side to Joe's "Envy" single, "Fire Water."
Later, "I'm Not a Player" (featuring an O'Jays sample) was supported by a significant advertising campaign and became an underground hit. The song's remix, "Still Not a Player" (featuring Joe), became Big Pun's first major mainstream hit. His full-length debut Capital Punishment followed in 1998, and was the first album by a solo Latino rapper to go platinum, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200. Capital Punishment was also nominated for a Grammy, but lost out on the award to Jay-Z's Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life. He became a member of The Terror Squad, a New York-based group of rappers founded by Fat Joe, with most of the roster supplied by the now-defunct Full a Clips Crew.
Death
Despite his athletic adolescence, Big Pun struggled with his weight for most of his life; his weight fluctuated in the early 90's between obese and morbidly obese. In the last years of his life he fluctuated between 450 and 697 pounds. Big Pun enrolled in a weight-loss program in North Carolina, in which he lost 100 pounds, but he eventually quit the program before completing it, returning to New York and gaining back the weight he had lost. On February 7, 2000, Big Pun suffered a fatal heart attack and respiratory failure in a hotel, Crowne Plaza, in White Plains, NY.
Posthumous works
His second album, Yeeeah Baby, completed before his death, was issued as scheduled in April 2000. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts and earned gold record status within three months of its release. It eventually went platinum. A second posthumous album, Endangered Species, was released in April of 2001. Endangered Species collected some of Pun's "greatest hits," previously unreleased material, numerous guest appearances, and remixed "greatest verses." As with his other albums, it also peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200, reaching #7, but didn't sell as much as the previous Pun albums had.
In recent times, Big Punisher was featured with Fat Joe on "Duets: The Final Chapter," an album of tracks featuring the Notorious B.I.G, also deceased. The track "Get Your Grind On" begins with a Big Pun radio interview in which he said he would perform a duet with Biggie at the gates of heaven. Punisher was also featured on a track from the revived Terror Squad's second album, True Story, on the track "Bring 'Em Back" with Big L.
Sony Records has been considering releasing a second posthumous album featuring unreleased material, but the project is being delayed by Sony. Liza Rios also held an auction in 2005 for her deceased husband's Terror Squad medallion, citing financial difficulties in the wake of Pun's death, and again claiming to have not received any royalty checks for Pun's posthumous album sales (save for a small check from the sales of Endangered Species).
Lyrical ability and technique
Big Pun rapped at high speeds. He used huge multies and internal rhyme schemes. He showcased his punchline capabilities on 'Dream Shatterer', multies and flow in 'Twinz', 'You ain't a Killer' and 'Boomerang'. He was influenced heavily by Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane. He also showcased superior topic versatility ranging from street life to sex/relationships and politics to social injustice.
Intermission
Big Pun Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So go get some pot and get high and when you turn to
The next song well sing about it.
Well I will give you and example.
Busta rhymes
Yo big pun what's up nigga?
Why are we waiting in
I dunno nigga I heard
That I had to tell the peeps listening to get some
Pot and get high.
No that's illegal!
You are suppose to tell them to go to the bathroom.
Oh, well I didn't know.
Uh oh well lets just go sing.
OK nigga lets go
The lyrics to Big Pun's song "Intermission" are simple and straightforward, but they beg the question of why an intermission exists in the first place. The song starts off with the phrase "Yo this is the intermission," which immediately gives the listener a sense of anticipation for what might come next. The lyrics then instruct the listener to "get some pot and get high," which suggests a feeling of relaxation and ease that matches the mellow beat of the song.
The interaction between Busta Rhymes and Big Pun offers a playful exchange that contrasts with the serious tone of much of their other music. Busta Rhymes' response to Big Pun's prompting offers a more legalistic interpretation of how to spend the intermission, which underscores the absurdity of both the song and the idea of intermission. Ultimately, the song serves as a moment of levity in between more intense tracks, inviting the listener to take a break and soak up the relaxed vibes.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo this is the intermission
I, Big Pun, am informing you that we are currently in the middle of a break in the music.
So go get some pot and get high and when you turn to
During this intermission, I suggest that you obtain marijuana and consume it in order to alter your state of mind.
The next song we'll sing about it.
When the music resumes, we will perform a song that pertains to the consumption of marijuana that was previously suggested.
Busta Rhymes, Yo Big Pun what's up nigga?
Busta Rhymes is addressing me, Big Pun, and asking how I am doing.
Why are we waiting in this intermission?
Busta Rhymes is questioning the reason why we are currently in the middle of a break in the music, as he is unaware of the situation.
I dunno nigga I heard
I, Big Pun, do not know the specific reason why we are in this intermission, but I have heard a suggestion to relay to the listeners.
That I had to tell the peeps listening to get some pot and get high.
The rumor that I heard was that I should advise the listeners to obtain marijuana and consume it in order to alter their state of mind during this break in the music.
No that's illegal!
Busta Rhymes is expressing that the suggestion I heard - to advise listeners to obtain and consume marijuana - is illegal and therefore not a good recommendation to make.
You are supposed to tell them to go to the bathroom.
Busta Rhymes is offering an alternative suggestion for what to tell listeners during this break - to use the bathroom - which is more appropriate and does not violate any laws.
Oh, well I didn't know.
I, Big Pun, am admitting that I was unaware of the appropriate suggestion to make during this break and appreciate the guidance from Busta Rhymes.
Uh oh well let's just go sing.
Now that we have resolved the confusion around what to say during this intermission, we are ready to resume performing music and will do so immediately.
Contributed by Lincoln P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.