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Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G.
From the same people who brought you Vibe magazine's New York Times bestseller Tupac Shakur comes the other half of the story that rocked the world: Unbelievable, the larger-than-life biography of Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G.
In this riveting account of Biggie's remarkable life, hip hop journalist Cheo Hodari Coker tells the story you've never heard about the dramatic, tension-filled world of Biggie, Tupac, Puff Daddy, and Suge Knight, tracing their friendships and feuds from the beginning to the bitter end. Despite the clash of personalities and styles, all four were key players in a volatile and creative era of hip hop, a time when gangsta rap became popular music.
Before he rocketed to fame as Biggie, Christopher Wallace was a young black man growing up in Brooklyn with a loving single mother. An honors student who dropped out of school to sell drugs, Biggie soon discovered that he had a gift for rocking the mike. Coker's narrative is based on exclusive interviews with Biggie's family and friends, some of whom have never spoken publicly about Biggie before.
Compellingly written and brilliantly illustrated, with rare color and black-and-white photographs from Vibe's archives and Biggie's family, this is an in-depth look at the life and afterlife of an icon whose music is as powerful and prevalent as ever. A virtuoso of flow as well as a master storyteller, Biggie was arguably the greatest rapper of all time. We've heard a lot of speculation about Biggie's death. Now it's time to remember his life and celebrate his work.
In this riveting account of Biggie's remarkable life, hip hop journalist Cheo Hodari Coker tells the story you've never heard about the dramatic, tension-filled world of Biggie, Tupac, Puff Daddy, and Suge Knight, tracing their friendships and feuds from the beginning to the bitter end. Despite the clash of personalities and styles, all four were key players in a volatile and creative era of hip hop, a time when gangsta rap became popular music.
Before he rocketed to fame as Biggie, Christopher Wallace was a young black man growing up in Brooklyn with a loving single mother. An honors student who dropped out of school to sell drugs, Biggie soon discovered that he had a gift for rocking the mike. Coker's narrative is based on exclusive interviews with Biggie's family and friends, some of whom have never spoken publicly about Biggie before.
Compellingly written and brilliantly illustrated, with rare color and black-and-white photographs from Vibe's archives and Biggie's family, this is an in-depth look at the life and afterlife of an icon whose music is as powerful and prevalent as ever. A virtuoso of flow as well as a master storyteller, Biggie was arguably the greatest rapper of all time. We've heard a lot of speculation about Biggie's death. Now it's time to remember his life and celebrate his work.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
24 people are currently reading
421 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 27, 2012
While this book veers off into digressions on the history of crack and long details of ancillary stories like the founding of Death Row Records, it is still an excellent book for specifically the reasons the author stated at the beginning. No conspiracy theories just the REAL culminated from taped interviews with Biggie himself and the friends & family of Biggie.
The early chapters do indeed veer off too much into the history of Brooklyn and such, but do contain the info about Biggie’s childhood and everything before he became a rapper and thought he might have a career as a recording artist.
Each chapter from Chapter Four until the end of the book is great and only stumbles in the last chapter (Chapter 10: 'Who Shot Ya?') with all — and I mean ALL of the people suspected of the Biggie murder. The people named and their possible link to murder was extremely hard to follow.
Perhaps the BEST chapter was Chapter 5: ‘What's Beef?’ It really detailed the circumstances and environment in which, as I stated in my Status Update—
November 29, 1994. A Tuesday, a robbery, an event that would change hip hop forever...the night of the Quad Studios shooting of Tupac Shakur.
— Nov 12, 2011 03:57am
I also liked how each chapter was titled as a line from or name of a Biggie song. In order the chapters were:
Chapter 1: ‘Dolly My Baby’
Chapter 2: ‘Things Done Changed’
Chapter 3: ‘It Was All a Dream’
Chapter 4: ‘Gimmie the Loot (I'm a Bad Boy)’
Chapter 5: ‘What's Beef?’
Chapter 6: 'Mo Money, Mo Problems'
Chapter 7: ‘One More Chance (The Remix)’
Chapter 8: 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Kills You'
Chapter 9: 'The Long Kiss Goodnight'
Chapter 10: 'Who Shot Ya?'
Epilogue: 'Sky's the Limit'
"If You Don't Know...Now You Know" A Discography
As I stated at the beginning, a lot of interviews occurred with the people close to Biggie, but curiously, while Biggie’s mom Voletta Wallace is interviewed extensively as is his inner circle there are little to no interviews with “Biggie’s women”. There are interviews with his children’s moms, but none with his “dalliances” specifically Charli Baltimore and Lil Kim. Of course they are mentioned and referenced quotes from other interviews, but not anything specific for this book.
While an interesting life, Biggie WAS only 24 when he was murdered, TWENTY FOUR! There isn’t a lot of life story there to tell, but the essence of what lead to his success and eventual death are the most potent parts of the book. If you are a fan of hip hop in general, the book intricately details what is was like on one side of the East Coast/West Coast feud. The book is so thoroughly detailed (and sourced) it could be used for a college course on hip hop.
Read my further comments at http://bit.ly/BiggieAdd
The early chapters do indeed veer off too much into the history of Brooklyn and such, but do contain the info about Biggie’s childhood and everything before he became a rapper and thought he might have a career as a recording artist.
Each chapter from Chapter Four until the end of the book is great and only stumbles in the last chapter (Chapter 10: 'Who Shot Ya?') with all — and I mean ALL of the people suspected of the Biggie murder. The people named and their possible link to murder was extremely hard to follow.
Perhaps the BEST chapter was Chapter 5: ‘What's Beef?’ It really detailed the circumstances and environment in which, as I stated in my Status Update—
November 29, 1994. A Tuesday, a robbery, an event that would change hip hop forever...the night of the Quad Studios shooting of Tupac Shakur.
— Nov 12, 2011 03:57am
I also liked how each chapter was titled as a line from or name of a Biggie song. In order the chapters were:
Chapter 1: ‘Dolly My Baby’
Chapter 2: ‘Things Done Changed’
Chapter 3: ‘It Was All a Dream’
Chapter 4: ‘Gimmie the Loot (I'm a Bad Boy)’
Chapter 5: ‘What's Beef?’
Chapter 6: 'Mo Money, Mo Problems'
Chapter 7: ‘One More Chance (The Remix)’
Chapter 8: 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Kills You'
Chapter 9: 'The Long Kiss Goodnight'
Chapter 10: 'Who Shot Ya?'
Epilogue: 'Sky's the Limit'
"If You Don't Know...Now You Know" A Discography
As I stated at the beginning, a lot of interviews occurred with the people close to Biggie, but curiously, while Biggie’s mom Voletta Wallace is interviewed extensively as is his inner circle there are little to no interviews with “Biggie’s women”. There are interviews with his children’s moms, but none with his “dalliances” specifically Charli Baltimore and Lil Kim. Of course they are mentioned and referenced quotes from other interviews, but not anything specific for this book.
While an interesting life, Biggie WAS only 24 when he was murdered, TWENTY FOUR! There isn’t a lot of life story there to tell, but the essence of what lead to his success and eventual death are the most potent parts of the book. If you are a fan of hip hop in general, the book intricately details what is was like on one side of the East Coast/West Coast feud. The book is so thoroughly detailed (and sourced) it could be used for a college course on hip hop.
Read my further comments at http://bit.ly/BiggieAdd
January 26, 2020
Wenn man über das schlechte Vorwort und die unzähligen Typos hinwegsehen kann (wurde das überhaupt lektoriert?), dann wird man viel Freude mit dem Buch haben.
Vorausgesetzt man ist ein Hip-Hop-Fan. Denn Unbelievable befasst sich weniger mit dem Sterben von B.I.G. wie viele andere Bücher, sondern viel mehr mit seinem Leben. Und sein Leben war Hip-Hop.
Neben Biggies leider kurzem Werdegang erfährt man sehr viel über die Rap-Kultur der 90er und alle relevanten Player. Über Tupac, Suge Knight und Death Row über Bad Boy, Puff Daddy und Junior M.A.F.I.A.
Über die Rivalität zwischen East- und Westcoast und die daraus resultierenden Morde. Besonders interessant fande ich wie die Hits auf beiden Seiten entwickelt und aufgenommen wurden. Wie die Vision und Arbeitsweise der Labelchefs und Producer war und natürlich wie charismatisch und talentiert Biggie war.
Parallel zur Lektüre, habe ich mich auf spotify durch die komplette B.I.G. Discographie gearbeitet und all die anderen relevanten Tracks aus der Zeit nachgehört von Eric B und Rakim bis Jay-Z. Ich habe mir Musikvideos, Interviews und Freestyles angeschaut.
Zusätzlich habe ich die acht Folgen Slow Burn - Podcast von Slate gebinged: Biggie and Tupac - To live and die in L.A.
Es war ein wilder Ritt und ein Leseerlebnis für alle Sinne.
Wenn ihr Rapfans seid, dann zögert nicht das zu lesen.
And If you don't know, now you know!
January 11, 2013
The novel, Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G Christopher Wallace, by Cheo Hodari Coker, tells the story of a man whose life was sadly lived short, but words and influence are still felt today worldwide. Christopher Wallace was born to Valetta Wallace on May 21, 1972 in urban, inner city Brooklyn, New York. His single mother worked multiple jobs and obviously lived a stressful life, but no matter what, she loved Chris from the moment he was born. As Christopher grew up his mother’s time consuming jobs began to give him more and more alone time and that, is where the story truly begins. Chris had always loved music, especially hip-hop. He would listen, rap along, and sometimes even try to “freestyle” to himself. Little did he know, he was actually quite good. But, back to the alone time. As he grew older, there were many temptations living in such a diverse city, and sadly as a result, Christopher began his first ever job, on the wrong foot. Chris, was on the streets not only doing, but also selling drugs consistently. Chris was not just involved with more common drugs such as marijuana, but he was involved highly in the crack cocaine industry. As he was passing time between drug deals, often Chris would find himself playing the role of an entertainer for those walking passed him on the street, because a this point, the rhymes just kept spilling right out of his mouth. Sadly, through all of these drugs, Chris was finally caught. Not once, but twice. Throughout the course of his short life, Christopher was arrested once on weapons charges (in an attempt to hide his drugs) and yet another time for dealing cocaine. Chris waited almost an entire year behind bars until he was able to break bail. Almost instantly after being let out from prison, the phenomenon known as Biggie Smalls, was born. Christopher, soon to only be recognized as Biggie, had thrown together a demo of his own music purely for himself and his own enjoyment, but with no intentions of being signed to a record deal. After a couple weeks, the right people were given the mixtape and they all enjoyed it. The people of Uptown records reached out to Biggie directly and asked him if he was interested in trying something “different”. He agreed and after a few months of hard work, it was produced. “Ready to Die” Biggie’s debut album was released in 1994. Instantly, this album created buzz all around the hip hop world, whether it was the fact that a east coast rapper was finally getting some attention, or that some considered his work to even be better than that of the west coast rappers, all attention was on New York. This leads to the east coast, west coast rap conflict. Essentially, the distinguished West Coast rappers became appalled to see these “idiots” on the East Coast preform their art. Even though this conflict did not create many positive things for those around it, for two individuals within it, it created something truly special. “He really respected him as a lyricist. He brought us to his house and barbecued for everybody. After that they were, like, immediate friends.” (363-364 (Ibooks for Iphone)). Through all the rough patches this conflict caused, it brought Christopher Wallace his brother, his best friend. It brought him Tupac Shakur. Tupac and Biggie were best friends through it all. They rapped together, they spent lots of time together, and they ultimately transformed hip-hop to what it is today, together. Sadly, Tupac Shakur was killed not long after Biggie and him befriended each other. On September 13th, 1996 Tupac passed away from bullet wounds he had endured six days prior in a drive by. This caught Biggie by shock, he had just gained and lost a brother in less than two full years, what could he do to help himself out of this funk? And so he did what he did best, he rapped. Notorious was scheduled to be finishing his second album entitled “Life After Death” when he arrived in California to present prizes at the Soul Train Music Awards. After this event was over, he went to a party in which lots of famous people including Faith Evans and Sean Combs were also present. When deciding to leave around 12:30am Notorious was accompanied by multiple bodyguards into the cars which would bring him to his hotel. In the most unfortunate of events, at around 12:40 am, another drive-by had occurred, this time affecting another one of America’s most prized rappers, Notorious B.I.G. was officially pronounced dead at 1:10 am on March 9th, 1997. This occurrence was horrific for everybody in America, but especially in the hip-hop community, they had lost two heads of hip-hop, Biggie from the east and Tupac from the west. As terrible as these two events were, the significance of the people involved in them is not forgotten. Thousands of people today, even the new generation still listens to the works of Tupac Shakur and Notorious. These two men were an inspiration, these two men were the greatest tag team of all time, these two men WERE hip-hop. Fittingly, “Life After Death” released 16 days after his death. It immediately sky rocketed to the top of the charts. Rest in peace Christopher Wallace. Rest in peace to the Notorious B.I.G.
February 6, 2010
This is about one of the, if not THE best, rapper that ever lived. And this has the potential to be a terrific book. But...it fell horribly short and the reason it fell short can be blamed on Vibe and Cheo Hodari Coker.
Coker is not only prejudiced, from what I read and as far as I can tell, but is very biased about everything Biggie, Tupac, East/West Coast, etc. I can understand, and applaud, Vibe wanting to get a reporter who had a past with Big.....but..... if the decision was mine to make and that person had an obvious agenda and was biased I'd have rather gone with someone who had to start fresh. There is a plethora of people, famous and non-famous, who could and would talk about Big, actually 'knowing him' didn't have to be a prerequisite.
Okay - anyone who is a Biggie fan and has followed his career and death and music knows pretty much everything in Unbelievable. You may find a few small lesser knows tidbits but nothing major at all. By far, far, far, the absolute best parts in the book were Big's family and friends accounts. The second best and only other aspect about the book that I loved are the pictures. Fantastic pictures.
Coker and Vibe should both be ashamed of themselves. This could have been a book that people would have looked back on forever, a way of really remembering Big in a way that I would think would please anyone. Instead, they turned out something mediocre at best (besides the two items I mentioned above).
There are numerous editing and other mistakes in the book and if you don't already know the facts of Big's life and death it can be confusing. Simple spelling and punctuation mistakes can be looked over but actual mistakes where you get someone's name wrong or a date or place, or something similiar just can't be overlooked.
I don't know of any other books on Biggie that I could recommend over this one and if anyone else knows of any good ones I'd love to hear what it is.
I'm probably going to read Vibe's book on Tupac just to see if it's along the same lines as this.
It's a real shame because most of the people who would pick this, or any other book about Big up, are people who really loved him, his music, what he stood for, etc. and to have it shoved together like a piece of trash really takes away from the way he should be represented. It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to see the things I've said here for yourself. All you have to do is read between the lines.
Overall this could have easily been a five star book and I ended up giving it a two star rating - how very disappointing. :(
Coker is not only prejudiced, from what I read and as far as I can tell, but is very biased about everything Biggie, Tupac, East/West Coast, etc. I can understand, and applaud, Vibe wanting to get a reporter who had a past with Big.....but..... if the decision was mine to make and that person had an obvious agenda and was biased I'd have rather gone with someone who had to start fresh. There is a plethora of people, famous and non-famous, who could and would talk about Big, actually 'knowing him' didn't have to be a prerequisite.
Okay - anyone who is a Biggie fan and has followed his career and death and music knows pretty much everything in Unbelievable. You may find a few small lesser knows tidbits but nothing major at all. By far, far, far, the absolute best parts in the book were Big's family and friends accounts. The second best and only other aspect about the book that I loved are the pictures. Fantastic pictures.
Coker and Vibe should both be ashamed of themselves. This could have been a book that people would have looked back on forever, a way of really remembering Big in a way that I would think would please anyone. Instead, they turned out something mediocre at best (besides the two items I mentioned above).
There are numerous editing and other mistakes in the book and if you don't already know the facts of Big's life and death it can be confusing. Simple spelling and punctuation mistakes can be looked over but actual mistakes where you get someone's name wrong or a date or place, or something similiar just can't be overlooked.
I don't know of any other books on Biggie that I could recommend over this one and if anyone else knows of any good ones I'd love to hear what it is.
I'm probably going to read Vibe's book on Tupac just to see if it's along the same lines as this.
It's a real shame because most of the people who would pick this, or any other book about Big up, are people who really loved him, his music, what he stood for, etc. and to have it shoved together like a piece of trash really takes away from the way he should be represented. It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to see the things I've said here for yourself. All you have to do is read between the lines.
Overall this could have easily been a five star book and I ended up giving it a two star rating - how very disappointing. :(
August 18, 2019
If I hadn't seen the videos, the films, the interviews and the pics I wouldn't believe it. 20 years later this guy's still making news. I think he genuinely was a genius musically and poetically. It's a shame he wasn't given time to evolve and show his depth. At 24 he was still experimenting with the limelight, love, girls, and the Boyz. Sure he came from a 'hussling' background, but that's what made his lyrics so real. The whole hip hop history is incredible and I think this book really connects the dots to the current musicians and rappers. At times it feels like a soap opera or a gangster film, but it's all real. And that's what makes it all the more incredible.
October 5, 2008
Whats Amazing is that after Eleven freakin years they havee not found who killed him
May 23, 2021
Sterling authorship. Journalist and Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker provides four dimensions of Biggie in this foundation piece that led to the filmed documentary. Raw and real, and everything connected.
July 17, 2018
A decidedly good examination of the impact and life of Christopher Wallace.
August 14, 2018
A must read if one wants to go in deep into the life of Christopher Wallace.
February 3, 2019
Rest in peace to the most talented, the most notorious, the best poet, Christopher Wallace.
October 28, 2019
Really good book.
May 8, 2014
Notorious BIG is my all time favorite rapper. I listen to him everyday and I decided to read a book about him. this book was one of the f=few books I have rad that I really liked. it is basically about his life as a child, and all of the things he went through, then he told about his life while he was selling drugs and going to prison. that is when he started writing his raps, once he got out he was being hated by many people on his block and city because he got so good at rapping while he was locked up. he died in 1996 and still released an album that sold millions of records after his death, which all proceeds went to his mother. she tells the story in some of the book and that helps the reader get the truth from his life. it was a great book and I really liked it so I read more about biggie smalls.
August 8, 2016
This book delved into some interesting details about Biggie's life, but there were way too many grammatical errors for this book to be taken seriously. At one point, in fact, the same passage was used twice. This is something that should have been caught by a professional editor, Vibe has those, right? Also, I skipped the final chapter of the book because Coker spent way too much time in the first several pages of the chapter eulogizing Biggie, a rapper, as if he were some type of transformative leader. The reality is that Biggie was a talented entertainer and he suffered a tragic and premature death, but that doesn't mean he should be canonized.
July 25, 2011
The book is so much better than the movie, what's so upsetting is that the movie seemed generic, this book has more detail and life to notorious b.i.g. Story, maybe this book will come back as a true screenplay....the book is one of the best I've read when it comes to the rap industry....hopefully one day the truth will shine so this ultimate rapper can rest in peace/ also check out prodigy new book. The rapper from mobb deep.
May 13, 2008
Great book on Biggie! Cheo Hadari Coker is also writting the screen play on his up coming biopic.
December 8, 2008
Nice biography on the Notorious one.
September 16, 2010
With all the books written on his supposed contemporary, 2pac, it's nice to read a big-ass book on the Notorious One.
November 20, 2012
Grade: A
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews