Notorious B.I.G. Mother Was 78

Voletta Wallace, the mother of late rapper The Notorious B.I.G, has died at 78.

She died at her home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania of natural causes after spending time in hospice care, the local coroner told the Associated Press.

Wallace was an outspoken advocate for her son after he died in a fatal shooting in 1997.

She was a regular presence on televised tributes to her son, born Christopher Wallace, including at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, which took place roughly six months after Biggie’s death. In one particularly memorable moment, she accepted an award he won for “Hypnotize” and noted that if her son were there, he’d say, “big-up to Brooklyn.”

Though she initially called her son’s music “noise,” she told the Associated Press that when she listened to his songs, she understood his gifts.

“I cried so much that day just listening to the music,” she said. “I remember I sat, I stood. I rested my head on the stereo and I just cried like a baby. And that was therapy for me. And I said, ‘Oh my God — that was a talented young man to put those words together.’ He had a beautiful voice. I love his voice.”

The elder Wallace executive produced the 2021 Netflix documentary Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell.

Biggie’s 1994 debut album Ready to Die has sold more than six million copies and included hits “Big Poppa” and “Juicy.”

His second album, Life After Deathreleased two weeks after he died, sold more than 11 million copies and included No. 1 hits “Hypnotize” and “Mo Money Mo Problems.”

Biggie’s death remains unsolved.

More to come.