The Notorious B.I.G., a rapper of Jamaican descent, will be one of the Class of 2020 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to an official announcement from the organization. The ceremony to induct the newly recognized individuals from the music industry will be held on May 2, 2020, at the Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, and will be broadcast live on HBO and the SiriusXM Rock and Roll Hall of Fame radio network. In addition to the Notorious B.I.G., the inductees will include Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, and T. Rex. Two of the top managers in the rock music industry, Jon Landau and Irving Azoff, will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award at the ceremony as well. Several of the new inductees are receiving the honor posthumously, including Notorious B.I.G. In past induction ceremonies, such inductees are honored with tribute performances. It has been noted that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions have a history of naming guitar-based bands over others, but the Class of 2020 represents a change in this approach by recognizing bands that utilize synthesizers, turntables, and computers to create their arrangements.

The Notorious B.I.G. was born Christopher George Latore Wallace in Brooklyn, New York in 1972 He is also known as “Biggie” “Biggie Smalls,” and “Biggy.” He is considered one of the greatest rappers in history and was noted for his storytelling flow that covered crime and hardships. An only child, his parents were Jamaican immigrants; his mother was Voletta Wallace, a preschool teacher, and his father Selwyn George Latore was a welder and politician who left the family in 1974. The rapper was raised in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn, and his mother worked two jobs to support the family. He attended Queen of All-Saints Middle school where he won several awards for his achievements as an English student. He received the nickname “Big” because he was overweight by the age of ten. He began rapping during his teen years and performed with local groups. He transferred to George Washington Career and Technical Education High School, where future rap stars like Jay-Z, DMX, and Busta Rhymes were students. He dropped out of school at age 17, becoming increasingly involved in drug dealing and crime. In 1993 he signed with Sean “Puffy” Combs’ recording label Bad Boy Records, releasing his album “Ready to Die” to critical praise in 1994. He then became a major figure in the East Coast hip-hop industry.

The Notorious B.I.G. was involved with the growing feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers in the late 1990s, and in 1996, while recording his second album, he was implicated by rumor in the drive-by shooting death of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, Nevada, Biggie was killed by an unknown individual in 1997 in Los Angeles in a drive-by shooting. His second album was released just weeks after his death and hit Number One on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming one of the few hip-hop albums certified as Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America