Unbelievable, Life, Death and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G.

by Cheo Hodari Coker and Vibe

Book Overview

In this riveting account of Biggie's remarkable life, hip hop journalist Cheo Hodari Coker tells the story you've never heard about the dramatic, tension-filled world of Biggie, Tupac, Puff Daddy, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0739441582
• ISBN13: 9780739441589
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press
• Length: 351 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Notorious B.I.G. alias Biggie Smalls, Christopher Wallace - Irreplacable, Incomparable, Unforgot

Give props for writer/filmmaker/critic Cheo Coker for doing such a fine job of this book. And for Vibe magazine for keeping the legacy of Biggie alive. Who would've a remarkable talent like this will leave too early, too soon? This man had it all from his early childhood, to making grades at school, drug dealing, having trouble with the law and now leaving behind to start a new regime. First of all, he wasn't just a rapper or the Greatest per se, he wasn't just Notorious B.I.G. He was a man that been thru the storms and the upbeats and downs. It's more than the music, it's more than the lifestyle, this was the American Way at the time. What if Tupac and Biggie would never been caught up between East Coast and West Coast? What if they live a little longer to see the day and not be killed? I said it before this book details everything goes around and behind the sets here. Best Wishes for the new movie NOTORIOUS coming this January 2009. Let us learn the lessons and mistakes of the two beloved artists [Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.] that made thru in they lifetimes and how they dreams became reality. Welcome to pass that on to our other generations and older alike. Rest in Peace Biggie you were on top.

From notting to something

Book Review: The Life, Death, And Afterlife of Notorious Of Big By: Cheo Hodon Coker The Notorious B.I.G. aka "Biggie" has left the rap game in body, but his music lives on. Unbelievable; The life, death, and afterlife of The Notorious Big which was written By: Cheo Hodon Coker. I gave it a five star rating; because it gave a better understanding of Biggie problems and emotion that he faced on the streets of Brooklyn, New York to the Hills of Hollywood, California. Coker makes it clear that Biggie conquered the music industry with his street rhythms to win number of awards. Never the less he come short to explain why when Biggie saw his wife Faith they did not talk to each other for the last time. The book was a good Biography of Notorious Big. It rest; fill with a lot of street talking just as know Biggie to talk on a day to day bases. The book makes it seem as if McPherson 2 Biggie was the person telling the story that how good the book is. It also explores a lot of interesting issues that not many people are willing to talk about. Biggie had attended Catholic School and getting a lot of things from his mother, who was a teacher, young Biggie did not have much to do. By the age of 16 he had dropped out of High School and had become a crack dealer. Coker often said in the book that biggie just wanted more. Sean Combs, a Music Producer, who pay Biggie money to stop selling crack. Biggie would not stop because he had just had a baby and the music was not giving him the money he wanted Combs one time had to went down south to get Biggie, because Biggie was down there selling crack. Biggie often says that he did not think that he could make it in the rap game. Then come the war "East Coast" VS "West Coast", which the Media put a lot of paper to the Fire and made it bigger. It ended up with the death of Tupac death, and then soon it would be Biggie turn. Over the entire book was a success I would recommend that people take out of there busy life and read this book, most of all the rappers in the music busy now. It would also help to stop the "Beefing" of rappers.

A Fascintating Read

A must read for anyone interested in the history of hip hop. Before I read it, I had only heard of the Notorious B.I.G. Now I feel as though I know him - personally. During the 90's, when gansta rap and the East coast vs. West coast fight broke out, I was too busy working on my Bachelor's and Master's degrees to pay much attention to anything else.I had also heard of Suge Knight and Sean Combs, but only from newspaper reports. Reading this book really filled in a lot of the details for me. Suge Knight is portrayed in a postive light as really caring for his artists and seeing to it that they were treated right. He became violent only when he thought that those artists were being taken advantage of, and that they (as well as he) were losing part of the money they were entitled to. I had always wondered what had prompted this violent streak of his. I remember the newspapers would only report the latest incidents, never try to explain them. The book also explains what it is, in fact, that Sean Combs does. I had always wondered: Is he a rapper? A producer? An executive? And, how did he amass so much money? Combs had always been a mystery to me. To some extent, he still is, but the book goes a long way toward solving this riddle too.This book explores many interesting puzzles like these and shows how intricate relationships within the hip hop community had become, even by the 90's. Biggie Smalls is portrayed as a flawed yet sympathetic character. At first, he's a child attending Catholic school in uniform, who feels different from all the others hanging out on the corner. His mother is a teacher, he's fatherless, and while not rich, he's by no means poor. His mother gets all the latest gear for him so he doesn't go out and get in trouble. As he grows older, however, the lure of quick profits grows stronger, so that by the time he's 16, he's dropped out of school and become a full-time crack dealer. The book wants us to believe this is so he can buy even more of the latest gear, and that he's never statisfied with what he's got. I'm not sure that that's the whole story, but surely his life was never as bleak as what he depicted later in some of his songs. One gets the feeling that somewhere along the line, something just isn't right - either with the world, or with Biggie. Then, once Biggie becomes a rap star, he says in the book that he never expected to, that rapping was just a hobby and that the profession he had actually chosen was that of the crack dealer. So, we're expected to believe that this rap star thing just happened as a fluke, and came just as much as a surprise to him as to the rest of the world. Maybe all this is so, but if it isn't, the book makes no alternative explanations, nor even attempts to. All we're left with, instead, is an incomplete portrayal of the man who would later become known as the Notorious BIG. All in all, despite the inadequacies in the portrayal, one is still able to admire and respect th

And Unbelievable Is What He Is!!!

I am so glad that I read this book. This book glorified Biggie as a everyday fella not a superstar. How good of a person he was and what he did for others including the ones that hated on him, which were many.This book gave a first account on how he went for "ashy to classy" and how hard he tried to keep it once he found out that he really had talent for music rather than talent for selling crack.What I didn't know, but really didn't surprise me was how much of a playa Biggie was. He had his wife Faith, Lil' Kim and Charlie Baltimore and I am going to say that it was more than that. It bugged me out him and Faith never even spoke to each other when the saw each other on the night he died. I guess it is true that you never know that last time you may see someone for good.I love the loyalty of his true friends from St. James, mainly Lil' Cease. This book also showed you how grimey Lil' Kim really is. What devastated me that most was how his relationship between him and Tupac just crumbled over bullsh--, straight bullsh--. If you ask me my opinion and this is just my opinion, I think Tupac what just in the wrong place at the wrong place, just like the rest of his situations. Now, don't get me wrong that's my boy too, he just makes bad judgements, just like Biggie staying out in Cali, like everything was cool.Overall, this book was the best biography I ever read. It was straight up real, it made you feel as if Biggie was telling you the story of his life himself.Later!!!

very compelling Book

Biggie was something else as a Artist & as a Brother trying to make His Mark in the World.he got caught up in alot of unwanted tension & whatnot.this Book does a Great job at breaking Down his Music & Creativity,His Inner circle & everything else that made Him click.vry Compelling Book that covers Him really well from start to finish.