The Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death (Arista)

THE UNFORTUNATE and tragic death of Christopher Wallace in the early hours of March 9, 1997 will leave a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of his friends, family and the two children he left behind. Chances are, however, that his rampantly macho hip-hop alter-ego, Biggie Smalls (aka The Notorious B.I.G.), will relish the triumph of leaving the planet in a hail of bullets and dying as he lived – on the edge of the sword.