New Biggie Smalls Biography Set To Release For His 50th Birthday

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A new biography about Brooklyn's own Notorious B.I.G. will hit the shelves next year, just in time for what would have been the rapper's 50th birthday, according to publishers.

The new book, titled "It Was All a Dream," is set to be released by Abrams Press in May 2022, Vibefirst reported.

Biggie Smalls, born Christopher Wallace, was killed at just 24 years old in 1997. He would have turned 50 on May 21 of next year.

The biography aims to contextualize Biggie's life through extensive interviews with those who knew and loved him, according to Abrams. It is written by ESPN sports an culture reporter Justin Tinsley, who has focused on the intersection of sports, race and culture in his journalism career.

"Journalist Justin Tinsley’s It Was All a Dream is a fresh, insightful telling of the life beyond the legend," Abrams writes. "...It places Biggie’s life in context, both within the history of rap but also the wider cultural and political forces that shaped him, including Caribbean immigration, the Reagan era disinvestment in public education, street life, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and the booming, creative, and influential 1990s music industry."

The book is far from the first chronicling of the Bed-Stuy-Clinton Hill rapper's life.

Most recently, a documentary about Biggie's life debuted on Netflix in March.

A concert honoring the Notorious B.I.G. was also held this summer at Prospect Park, complete with a limited-edition Budweiser can dedicated to the artist.

Tinsley's book is available for pre-order on Abrams Press' website. Its official release date will be May 10.

Find out more here.