NOTORIOUS

Notorious is a 2009 American biopic about the life of iconic hip hop star Christopher Wallace / Biggie Smalls / The Notorious B.I.G., who is played by Jamal Woolard. The feature film co-stars Angela Bassett as his mother Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur. Other roles include Naturi Naughton as Lil' Kim and Antonique Smith as Faith Evans.

The picture opens at a celebration in Los Angeles in March 1997. Biggie Smalls is seen sitting at his chair smoking. People, including Faith Evans (Antonique Smith) and Sean Combs (Derek Luke), move to the music on the dance floor. Moments later, Biggie, Combs, and friends are driving away from the celebration.Biggie's cousin Lil' Cease, (Marc John Jefferies) is flirting with women outside. A black Chevrolet Impala pulls up and someone inside fires a gunshot at Biggie.

The movie then flashes back to Biggie's childhood in the early 1980s, recounting his rough upbringing in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn. Biggie (Christopher "CJ" Wallace, Jr.) writes numerous rap songs, enduring the ridicule of some classmates. Biggie then starts selling drugs at the height of the crack epidemic. In 1990, after winning an important rap battle and meeting Lil' Kim (Naturi Naughton) for the first time, Biggie's mother, Voletta (Angela Bassett), throws him out of the house after discovering his involvement with drugs.

After serving time in prison, he goes to see his girlfriend Jan (Julia Pace Mitchell), and their new daughter, T'yanna (Taylor Dior). After reconciling with his mother, he goes to find D-Roc and Lil' Cease and records a demo called "Microphone Murderer." Shortly thereafter, Biggie meets Sean Combs, an striving producer for Uptown Records. Combs promises Biggie that he will sign him to a record deal only accept if he gives up drug dealing. Biggie agrees and then leaves.A few days later. Biggie and D-Roc, have a run-in with the police thus they are caught by the police after a chase. D-Roc finally decides to "take the fall" for the both of them because he believes that Biggie can do well as a rapper.

Biggie learns that Combs has lost his job at Uptown Records. Perturbed, he leaves Combs and goes back home only to see that his mother has breast cancer. Biggie becomes miserable, but soon recovers when Combs starts his own record label, Bad Boy Records, and signs him. Biggie starts recording songs for his first album, Ready To Die, thereafter.Biggie meets Faith Evans at a photo shoot. They begin a hasty love affair, marrying nine days later. Meanwhile, Biggie continues to discount his relationship with Jan and their child. When Faith discovers Biggie's relationship with Jan, she goes to threaten Biggie, seeing him with yet another woman. The two later settle despite the fact that tensions between him, Faith, Jan, and Lil' Kim, yet another of Biggie's paramours, continue to grow.

Biggie opens a friendship with rapper/actor Tupac Shakur (Anthony Mackie). Biggie celebrates his album Ready To Die with Tupac, flattering the other rapper. When Tupac is shot in Quad Studios, however, he accuses Combs, Biggie and Bad Boy Records for instigating it. At The Source Awards in 1995, demise Row Records exec, Suge Knight, makes a speech "dissing" Combs and Bad Boy Records, claiming demise Row is the superior label. Soon the discrepancy escalates into the East Coast-West Coast beef and the friendship between Biggie and Tupac is broken. A track called "Who Shot Ya?" is released, a song which claims to diss Tupac. Biggie and Combs claim that "Who Shot Ya?" was recorded before Tupac was shot, but Suge and Tupac claim otherwise. Tupac comes out with "Hit 'Em Up" which disses Biggie along with talking about having sex with Faith. Then after seeing a magazine photo of Tupac and Faith hugging each other, Biggie becomes enraged. Later, Faith explains that she and Tupac met at the House of Blues and only took a photo. Biggie attempts to renovate the relationship, but tensions continue to grow between them.

The East Coast-West Coast enmity continues until September 1996 when Tupac is assasinated in Las Vegas. Voletta tells Biggie that Tupac probably died as a result of difference in their opinions. Biggie is perturbed by Tupac's sudden demise.Biggie and D-Roc rekindle their friendship after D-Roc is released from prison. Biggie states that he's done with the rap game, a small importance upon the obvious change of heart that he had while in the hospital (he was injured in a car accident). Biggie decides to go Los Angeles to promote his upcoming album Life After death and brings D-Roc and Lil' Cease with him. The three men, along with Combs and Faith, all travel to Los Angeles. Biggie gets several death threats and is shot and killed moments after calling Lil' Kim to apologize and to set up a meeting with her.

The picture was free in American theaters on January 16, 2009. Rotten Tomatoes noted an average score of 5.5/10. It is similar to Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005, Jim Sheridan) Cadillac Records (2008, Darnell Martin).