The Notorious B.I.G, 15 Years Later: A Music-Video Tribute

Wallace’s success as an East Coast rapper was jarring to the hip-hop community, whose creative center had shifted to the West Coast in the early 1990s, with the success of artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, N.W.A. and notably, rival Tupac Shakur. The two groups became involved in a rivalry that would produce several classic, heated “diss tracks,” but unfortunately culminate with the death of Shakur and Wallace in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Unfortunately, “Hypnotize” would fully realize the title of Wallace’s second and final album, Life After Death. While in Los Angeles for the Soul Train music awards as well as the music video shoot for “Hypnotize,” Wallace was shot and killed on March 9, 1997. But his success as an artist continued; the posthumous release of his album the same month was incredibly successful, and the single “Hypnotize” peaked at #1 on the pop charts and went platinum.