Voletta Wallace, the mother of the late Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G, has died at the age of 78.
Wallace passed away on Friday while in hospice care at her residence in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The cause of death was however not disclosed.
She was a Jamaican immigrant and single mother who was thrust into the spotlight following the death of her son.
Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, at the age of 24.
His murder came six months after the fatal shooting of fellow rapper Tupac Shakur, his former friend turned rival. The deaths of the two hip-hop icons marked the end of a transformative era in gangster rap.
Both cases remained unsolved, sparking countless theories, documentaries, and books exploring the possible connections between the killings, including alleged ties to national gangs and corrupt law enforcement.
Following Christopher’s death, Wallace took charge of his career posthumously.
She founded the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation, which focused on providing educational opportunities for children through initiatives like B.I.G. (Books Instead of Guns) Night Out.
In 2002, Wallace and Faith Evans, her son’s wife, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, alleging police involvement in the rapper’s murder and a subsequent cover-up.
Although the case ended in a mistrial in 2005, a judge ruled that the LAPD had intentionally withheld evidence and ordered the city to pay the estate’s legal fees.
A later version of the lawsuit, filed in 2007, sought $500 million in damages but was dismissed in 2010 to avoid interfering with a renewed criminal investigation.
Wallace remained dedicated to celebrating her son’s life and impact. She served as a producer for the 2009 biopic Notorious, in which Angela Bassett portrayed her.
In 2021, Wallace worked as an executive producer on the Netflix documentary ‘Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell’.
