Wallace was born and raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. His debut album Ready to Die (1994) made him a central figure in East Coast hip hop and increased New York City's visibility in the genre at a time when West Coast hip hop dominated the mainstream. The following year, he led Junior M.A.F.I.A.—a protégé group composed of his childhood friends—to chart success. In 1996, while recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. On March 9, 1997, he was murdered by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His second album, Life After Death (1997), released two weeks later, rose to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. In 2000, it became one of the few hip-hop albums to be certified Diamond.
Wallace was noted for his "loose, easy flow"; dark, semi-autobiographical lyrics; and storytelling abilities, which focused on crime and hardship. Three more albums have been released since his death, and he has certified sales of over 17 million records in the United States, including 13.4 million albums.
Wallace was born at St. Mary's Hospital in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 21, 1972, the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents. His mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher, while his father, Selwyn George Latore, was a welder and politician. His father left the family when Wallace was two years old, and his mother worked two jobs while raising him. Wallace grew up at 226 St. James Place in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill, near the border with Bedford-Stuyvesant. Wallace excelled at Queen of All Saints Middle School winning several awards as an English student. He was nicknamed "Big" because he was overweight by the age of 10. Wallace said he started dealing drugs when he was around the age of 12. His mother, often away at work, did not know of his drug dealing until he was an adult. He began rapping as a teenager, entertaining people on the streets, and performed with local groups the Old Gold Brothers and the Techniques. At his request, Wallace transferred from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School to George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, where future rappers DMX, Jay-Z, and Busta Rhymes were also attending. According to his mother, Wallace was still a good student but developed a "smart-ass" attitude at the new school. At age 17, Wallace dropped out of school and became more involved in crime. In 1989, he was arrested on weapons charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to five years' probation. In 1990, he was arrested on a violation of his probation. A year later, Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He spent nine months in jail before making bail.
Wallace's lyrical topics and themes included mafioso tales ("Niggas Bleed"), his drug-dealing past ("10 Crack Commandments"), materialistic bragging ("Hypnotize"), as well as humor ("Just Playing (Dreams)"), and romance ("Me & My Bitch"). Rolling Stone named Wallace in 2004 as "one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs".
Guerilla Black, in the book How to Rap, describes how Wallace was able to both "glorify the upper echelon" and "[make] you feel his struggle". According to Touré of The New York Times in 1994, Wallace's lyrics " autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty". Marriott of The New York Times (in 1997) believed his lyrics were not strictly autobiographical and wrote he "had a knack for exaggeration that increased sales". Wallace described his debut as "a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point in my life involving bitches and niggaz... from the beginning to the end".
Ready to Die is described by Rolling Stone as a contrast of "bleak" street visions and being "full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle back to hip-hop". AllMusic write of "a sense of doom" in some of his songs and the NY Times note some being "laced with paranoia"; Wallace described himself as feeling "broke and depressed" when he made his debut. The final song on the album, "Suicidal Thoughts", featured Wallace contemplating suicide and concluded with him committing the act.
On Life After Death, Wallace's lyrics went "deeper". Krims explains how upbeat, dance-oriented tracks (which featured less heavily on his debut) alternate with "reality rap" songs on the record and suggests that he was "going pimp" through some of the lyrical topics of the former. XXL magazine wrote that Wallace "revamped his image" through the portrayal of himself between the albums, going from "midlevel hustler" on his debut to "drug lord".
AllMusic wrote that the success of Ready to Die is "mostly due to Wallace's skill as a storyteller"; in 1994, Rolling Stone described Wallace's ability in this technique as painting "a sonic picture so vibrant that you're transported right to the scene". On Life After Death, Wallace notably demonstrated this skill on "I Got a Story to Tell", creating a story as a rap for the first half of the song and then retelling the same story "for his boys" in conversation form.
Considered one of the best rappers of all time, Wallace was described by AllMusic as "the savior of East Coast hip-hop". The Source magazine named Wallace the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue in 2002. In 2003, when XXL magazine asked several hip hop artists to list their five favorite MCs, Wallace's name appeared on more rappers' lists than anyone else. In 2006, MTV ranked him at No. 3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, calling him possibly "the most skillful ever on the mic". Editors of About.com ranked him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007). In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 Lyrical Leaders of all time. Rolling Stone has referred to him as the "greatest rapper that ever lived". In 2015, Billboard named Wallace as the greatest rapper of all time.
Since his death, Wallace's lyrics have been sampled and quoted by a variety of hip hop, R&B and pop artists including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Fat Joe, Nelly, Ja Rule, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Game, Clinton Sparks, Michael Jackson and Usher. On August 28, 2005, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Sean Combs (then using the rap alias "P. Diddy") and Snoop Dogg paid tribute to Wallace: an orchestra played while the vocals from "Juicy" and "Warning" played on the arena speakers. In September 2005, VH1 held its second annual "Hip Hop Honors", with a tribute to Wallace headlining the show.
Wallace had begun to promote a clothing line called Brooklyn Mint, which was to produce plus-sized clothing but fell dormant after he died. In 2004, his managers, Mark Pitts and Wayne Barrow, launched the clothing line, with help from Jay-Z, selling T-shirts with images of Wallace on them. A portion of the proceeds go to the Christopher Wallace Foundation and to Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. In 2005, Voletta Wallace hired branding and licensing agency Wicked Cow Entertainment to guide the estate's licensing efforts. Wallace-branded products on the market include action figures, blankets, and cell phone content.
The Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation holds an annual black-tie dinner ("B.I.G. Night Out") to raise funds for children's school equipment and to honor Wallace's memory. For this particular event, because it is a children's schools' charity, "B.I.G." is also said to stand for "Books Instead of Guns".
There is a large portrait mural of Wallace as Mao Zedong on Fulton Street in Brooklyn a half-mile west from Wallace's old block. A fan petitioned to have the corner of Fulton Street and St. James Place, near Wallace's childhood home renamed in his honor, garnering support from local businesses and attracting more than 560 signatures.
A large portrait of Wallace features prominently in the Netflix series Luke Cage, due to the fact that he served as muse for the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Marvel Comics character Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes.
Things Done Changed
The Notorious B.I.G. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side (yeah)
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side (yeah)
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Remember back in the days when niggas had waves
Cazal shades and corn braids?
Pitching pennies, honeys had the high-top jellies
Shooting skelly, motherfuckers was all friendly
Lounging at the barbecues, drinking brews
With the neighborhood crews, hanging on the avenues
Turn your pages to 1993
Niggas is getting smoked, G, believe me
Talk slick, you get your neck slit quick
'Cause real street niggas ain't having that shit
Totin' TECs for rep
Smoking blunts in the project hallways
Shooting dice all day
Waitin' for niggas to step up on some fightin' shit
We get hype and shit and start lightin' shit
So step away with your fistfight ways
Motherfucker, this ain't back in the days
But you don't hear me though
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
No more coco-levio one, two, three
One, two, three, all it is to me is a mystery
I hear you motherfuckers talk about it
But I stay seeing bodies with the motherfuckin' chalk around it
And I'm down with the shit too
For the stupid motherfuckers wanna try to use Kung-Fu
Instead of a MAC-10, he tried scrappin'
Slugs in his back and that's what the fuck happens
When you sleep on the street
Little motherfuckers with heat wanna leave a nigga six feet deep
And we coming to the wake
To make sure the crying and commotion ain't a motherfucking fake
Back in the days our parents used to take care of us
Look at 'em now, they even fuckin' scared of us
Calling the city for help because they can't maintain
Damn, shit done changed, uh
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
If I wasn't in the rap game
I'd probably have a ki, knee-deep in the crack game
Because the streets is a short stop
Either you're slingin' crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot
Shit, it's hard being young from the slums
Eatin' five cent gums, not knowing where your meal's coming from
And now the shit's getting crazier and major
Kids younger than me, they got the Sky brand pagers
Going out of town, blowing up
Six months later, all the dead bodies showing up
It make me wanna grab the nine and the shotty
But I gotta go identify the body
Damn, what happened to the summertime cookouts
Every time I turn around, a nigga gettin' took out
Shit, my momma got cancer in her breast
Don't ask me why I'm motherfucking stressed, things done changed
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
Back in the day
Things done changed on this side
Remember they used to thump, but now they blast, right?
In "Things Done Changed", The Notorious B.I.G. paints a vivid picture of the changing times in Brooklyn and the dangers that come with it. He reminisces about the simpler, friendlier moments of his youth when they played pitched pennies, shot skelly, and enjoyed barbecues drinking cold beer with their neighborhood crew. Now, the streets have gotten more violent and unforgiving, and he perceives the reality that friends are being murdered, a situation that never existed when he was young. No longer are small scraps settled with fists; disagreements are now dealt with knives and guns, he laments. Guns are now blasting where once they merely thumped.
As he describes what he sees and experiences in the present day, he also offers a commentary on how the world seemed to transition into the violence, placing blame on a variety of factors. It's not just young people like himself, picking up guns for the first time, but also they had access to technology that made everything move quicker, making the violence inevitable. The people who once provided security, such as parents and the police, only seem to be contributing to the chaos, indicating that everyone who failed in their responsibility for the world around them was realistically responsible for the tragic shifts witnessed.
In essence, "Things Done Changed" is a showcase of how "life comes at you quickly" and how the neighborhood that the rapper grew up in, changed into something dangerous and hostile, where people are forced to be "real street niggas" in order to survive.
Line by Line Meaning
Back in the day
In the past
Things done changed on this side
Things have greatly changed
Remember they used to thump but now they blast, right
Remember how the music used to be loud but now it's really loud
Remember back in the days when niggas had waves
Remember the old times when people used to have certain hairstyles
Cazal shades and corn braids
People used to wear certain types of sunglasses and braid their hair a specific way
Pitching pennies, honeys had the high-top jellies
People used to play games with pennies and women wore a certain type of shoe
Shooting skelly, motherfuckers was all friendly
People used to play a game called skelly and everyone was friendly
Lounging at the barbecues, drinking brews
Hanging out at barbecues and drinking beer
With the neighborhood crews, hanging on the avenues
With friends, hanging out on the streets
Turn your pages to 1993
Looking back at the year 1993
Niggas is getting smoked, G, believe me
People are getting killed, believe me
Talk slick, you get your neck slit quick
If you talk back, you may get hurt badly
'Cause real street niggas ain't having that shit
People who grew up in tough neighborhoods won't tolerate anyone disrespecting them
Totin' TECs for rep
People carry guns to show they are tough
Smoking blunts in the project hallways
People smoke drugs in the hallways of a housing project
Shooting dice all day
Playing a gambling game called dice all day long
Waitin' for niggas to step up on some fighting shit
Waiting for someone to try and fight
We get hype and shit and start lighting shit
We get excited and start causing trouble
So step away with your fist-fight ways
Don't try to fight with your fists
Motherfucker, this ain't back in the days
This is not like the old times
But you don't hear me though
But you don't understand what I'm saying
No more coco-levio 1, 2, 3
A children's game is no longer played
1, 2, 3, all it is to me, is a mystery
It's a mystery what these numbers mean
I hear you motherfuckers talk about it
I hear people talking about things
But I stay seeing bodies with the motherfucking chalk around it
I see dead bodies marked by chalk on the streets
And I'm down with the shit too
I'm involved in this too
For the stupid motherfuckers want to try to use Kung-Fu
For those that want to fight with Kung-Fu
Instead of a MAC-10, he tried scrapping
Instead of using a gun, he tried to fight with his fists
Slugs in his back and that's what the fuck happens
He got shot in the back and that's what happens
When you sleep on the street
When you're homeless and living on the streets
Little motherfuckers with heat wanna leave a nigga six feet deep
Young people with guns want to kill someone
And we coming to the wake
We're going to the funeral
To make sure the crying and commotion ain't a motherfucking fake
To make sure people are really grieving
Back in the days our parents used to take care of us
In the past, our parents took better care of us
Look at 'em now, they even fuckin' scared of us
Now our parents are even scared of us
Calling the city for help because they can't maintain
Asking the city for help because they can't handle the problems on their own
Damn, shit done changed
Wow, things have really changed
If I wasn't in the rap game
If I wasn't a rapper
I'd probably have a key knee-deep in the crack game
I'd probably be selling crack
Because the streets is a short stop
Because life on the streets is temporary
Either you're slinging crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot
Either you're selling drugs or you're good at basketball
Shit, it's hard being young from the slums
It's tough to be young and poor
Eating 5 cent gums, not knowing where your meal's coming from
Eating cheap candy and not knowing where your next meal will come from
And now the shit's getting crazier and major
Things are getting more intense and serious
Kids younger than me, they got the Skygrand pagers
Kids younger than me have fancy pagers
Going out of town, blowing up
Traveling and becoming successful
Six months later, all the dead bodies showing up
Six months later, there are a lot of dead bodies
It make me wanna grab the 9 and the shotty
It makes me want to grab a gun
But I gotta go identify the body
But I have to go identify the dead body
Damn, what happened to the summertime cookouts
What happened to the fun barbecues in the summer?
Every time I turn around, a nigga getting took out
Every time I look, someone is getting hurt or killed
Shit, my momma got cancer in her breast
My mom has cancer in her breast
Don't ask me why I'm motherfucking stressed, things done changed
I'm stressed out and things have changed a lot
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Dominique Owens, Kevin Delance Scott, Christopher Wallace
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gupworld7395
“The streets is a short-stop; either you slingin crack rock or ya got a wicked jumpshot” is still the hardest line I’ve ever heard out of any rap song to this day
@2011hwalker
So hard. Basically describes ghetto life.
@LorliusHogglefarts
"Little motherfuckers with heat, wanna leave a *** 6 feet deep, and we coming to the wake to make sure the crying and commotion aint a motherfucking fake" brutal line
@raar650
Hard as fuck nigga was out of this world
@SerafinaTorgul
"At my arraignment, note to the plaintiff, daughters tied up in the Brooklyn basement, face it, not Guilty"
@johncellini3608
really 😂 lol awesome line classic but there's Soo many better ones out there
@drakeb88
When you listen to the album, you hear this atomic bomb as the first song, you know you are about to listen to a masterpiece.
@MK-id2og
Fr
@markreid231
💯
@dannymcdonald286
One of the most hardest song ever made in history the beat and the lyrics together has such a cold serious vibe