Fans and friends of Notorious B.I.G. are marking the 20th death anniversary of the Brooklyn rapper Thursday with tributes to the hip-hop legend.
The slain rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, amid the ongoing hip-hop-related rivalry between the East Coast and West Coast, at the time, according to USA Today.
The "Hypnotize" rapper, nicknamed Biggie Smalls, was murdered just six months after rapper Tupac Shakur lost his life in a fatal drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
Though Biggie was just 24 when he died, he's still considered one of the greatest rappers to ever live, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The Bedford-Stuyvestant native released his debut album – "Ready to Die" – in 1994.
Biggie would release a double album three years later – his solo album, "Life After Death," and "Conspiracy," which was a collective project with his group Junior M.A.F.I.A.
Biggie's career appeared to take off when he signed with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, who back then was known as Puff Daddy. Biggie signed to Diddy's label Bad Boy Records in 1992.
Other artists the rapper worked with in the mid '90s include Lil' Kim, the boy group 112, the rap group The Commission, Jay-Z, Tupac, Mary J. Blige, and his widow Faith Evans.
Evans appeared on the morning radio show, The Breakfast Club, Thursday morning, and was asked if she and Biggie's family are still looking for closure in a murder that is still unsolved, according to ABC News.
"[His mother] Ms. Wallace and I sort of feel like we know what happen," Evans said on the show. "It's just a matter of the LAPD saying that they know what happened, which they probably will never do."
"I don't say we have closure. We just decided not to continue paying money to make them admit they know what happened," she added. "No, there's no closure in that sense. But you know we just have to move on and live with the great memories of B.I.G. that we've had."
Evans also said that she will be releasing a duet album, "The King & I," on May 19, which is two days before Biggie would have turned 45.
Here are some of the tributes posted on Twitter in honor and celebration of the Notorious B.I.G.
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