The Notorious B.I.G. - легенда рэпа Бигги Смолз

Without a doubt, the rap industry had already significantly changed over the past few years, most notably because of a small label hailing from Compton, California, and a man named Suge.

Standing at a formidable 6 feet 3 inches and weighing more than 350 pounds, Marion "Suge" Knight was nothing less than intimidating. Origi¬nally from Compton, Knight had moved to Las Vegas after taking a place on the University of Las Vegas football team, a team notorious for its after-school activities, which included petty drug sales and part-time jobs running the doors at local clubs. Knight left college during his senior year to join the Los Angeles Rams in 1987, during a player strike. The team needed players to fill in the gaps left by the regular players, and Knight, a solid player, easily fit the bill. But almost as soon as the strike ended, Knight was permanently benched, and before long, he officially left the team. Within short time, he was arrested after attacking a man in what was later determined to be an auto theft. Charged with attempted mur¬der, grand larceny of an auto, and the use of a deadly weapon to commit a crime, Knight was given only probation and a fine, and he decided to move back to California, back to Compton and to his family.

Having relocated to the poverty-stricken area from Mississippi to escape racism and to be closer to family, Knight's parents—a teacher and a custodian—had raised Knight in a comfortable home. Nicknamed "Sugar Bear" as a child, Knight was always an athlete, offering him the only allowable excuse to sidestep gang membership. Even so, he carried close friendships with many gang members, most notably the Tree Top Pirus, a Bloods-affiliated gang that ran rampant in his neighborhood. Many of the gang members were proud of Knight for being a good football player, and he enjoyed a certain level of respect among the Pirus usually reserved for other gang members.