If the police or feds aren’t on you, the n***** on the street are on you.”ĭrawn into the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry following the success of Ready to Die, Smalls came to represent the East Coast alongside Bad Boy Records, while rapper and former friend Tupac Shakur and Los Angeles-based Death Row Records were the West Coast, with both sides taking subliminal and blunt digs against the other in music releases, videos and interviews. “Every true hustler knows that you cannot hustle forever,” Smalls told Rolling Stone at the time. Upon finding out, Combs is said to have tried to make him stop. Though his success was growing, Smalls reportedly returned to drug dealing in order to make more money following the birth of daughter T’yanna. In his music, Smalls exalted the excesses a life of crime could provide but was lyrically gifted enough to counter such notions by also revealing the downside to such behavior on songs “Suicidal Thoughts” and “Everyday Struggle” which, according to Smalls, was a real account of a drug-selling expedition. The rapper highlighted both the ups and downs of a life of crime in his music We did have a very violent relationship.” “It happened,” she said during a 2018 interview with Ebro In the Morning, adding the recounted story was very “close to the truth.

Lil’ Kim would eventually confirm the affair and rumors of violence in her relationship with Smalls, revealing that a story regarding Smalls threatening her at gunpoint during a studio session did in fact occur. A good majority of this LP provides an easy listen thanks to some amazing beats, quality collabs, and classic Biggie bars. Evans would eventually reconcile with Smalls and give birth to a son, Christopher “CJ” Wallace Jr., in October 1996, a time in which Smalls was reportedly continuing his affair with Lil’ Kim, on whose record he was working. Hypnotize, Kick In The Door, I Love the Dough, and What’s Beef are just some of the songs on this massive project that hit on all cylinders. He also began dating performer Charli Baltimore with the two appearing in public together, something he had avoided previously with Lil’ Kim. “We should have got to know each other and then got married,” he added.Įvans soon separated from Smalls, reportedly when she discovered his affair with Lil’ Kim. That was my baby,” he said to Vibe magazine but would concede the speed of their courtship did not provide a solid foundation. “I married her after knowing her eight days and I was happy. A month prior to the release of his first album, Smalls married R&B singer Faith Evans, whom he had recently met at a Bad Boy Records photoshoot.

The notorious big best of biggie smalls