At 24 years old I remember driving around with a suspended license, drinking too much alcohol, never eating vegetables, smacking a guy with a Hennessy bottle for a reason I can't remember, and having my cell phone turned off every month because I always forgot to pay the bill. And I was considered to be the "responsible friend." I was wild, reckless, and extremely content with making bad decisions every single day. I could not dream of the reality that I enjoy now almost 20 years later and remain extremely grateful that I got a chance to grow up.
By 24, rapper Christopher Wallace better known by his stage name The Notorious B.I.G. was already one of the most talented rappers in the history of the art form – selling millions of records, touring the world, being nominated for multiple Grammys, winning a Billboard Music Award, Soul Train Music Awards, Source Awards and more. He had everything figured out, escaped poverty and was a master of his art from before his brain was fully developed – a true genius. Gun violence cut the rapper's life short; as a result we will never know what he could have been. This year, the year Biggie would have turned 50, Justin Tinsley, sports and culture reporter for ESPN's Andscape, formerly The Undefeated, takes a deep dive into the life of Christopher Wallace and the powerful legacy he created in such a short time in his book "It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him."
