“It was all a dream!” are just a few words to describe Christopher Wallace (Biggie Smalls) who became the king of east coast rap music when he released his first album "Ready to Die". The lyrics "It was all a dream!" are taken from the album's number one hit single titled "Juicy" in which Biggie described life growing up on the rough streets of Brooklyn, New York. Biggie Smalls rose to fame as a rapper in the 1990s causing a rise in the popularity of rap, the split (rivalry) between East Coast and West Coast rap music, and the East Coast style of gangsta rap. Biggie Smalls caused a rise in the popularity of rap music in the 1990s and beyond. Biggie's debut album "Ready to Die" was released on September 13, 1994. Ready to Die peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200 chart and was the best-selling rap album of the year. Ready to Die was eventually certified 4x platinum (4 million albums sold) and Biggie was named the "King of New York Rap" winning New Artist of the Year, Live Performer of the year, Lyricist of the Year, and Album of the Year at Source Magazine's Second Annual Hip Hop Awards Ceremony (Marcovitz, 2007, page 26). Biggie's second album, "Life After Death", was released on March 25, 1997 and just 16 days later, Biggie Smalls was shot and killed after an awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California. Life After Death is currently the third best-selling rap music album of all time according to The Source Magazine (Centeno, 2013). Life After Death later sold 10x platinum or "Diamond" status (Marcovitz, 2007). Only a handful of rappers have an album with diamond status, including Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur, Eminem and Outkast. Not only were Biggies' record sales incredible, but he also influenced a generation... middle of paper... .and the style of gangsta rap on the East Coast.Works Cited1. Centeno, Antonio. "The 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time" Thesource.com. December 3, 20132. Kelley, Frannie. “Biggie Smalls: The Voice That Influenced a Generation.” NPR.web. 02 August 2010.3. Kj4sb."Rap music, how different would the rap industry be if Tupac and The Notorious BIG were still alive?" Dr. Nielson's Fys 100 blog. 03 December 2012.4. Lang, Holly. “The Notorious B.I.G. A Biography.” Greenwood Biographies, 2007.5. Marcovitz, Hal."Hip-Hop Notorious BIG"Mason Crest Publishers Inc, 2007.6. Ross, Erik. "The 50 Best-Selling Rap Albums of All Time" Complexmusic.com. May 18, 2013.7. Weinstein, Max. “Why Notorious B.I.G. Is the Most Influential Rapper of All Time” theboombox.com. March 9, 20148. “Biggie and Tupac [Documentary] 2002 *Full length*” youtube.com. 2002.