Voletta Wallace attends the unveiling of her son the Notorious B.I.G.s wax figure, at Madame Tussauds October 25, 2007 in New York City.
The Notorious B.I.G.’s Mother Reportedly Passes Away
Voletta Wallace spent her final days in hospice care, according to reports.
Voletta Wallace, the mother of legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G. passed away Friday morning at the age of 78, according to reports from TMZ and The New York Post.
TMZ reported that Wallace died in hospice care in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, with Thomas Yanac, a coroner for Monroe County (which Stroudsburg resides in), sharing that her death was due to natural causes. The Post confirmed the news of Wallace’s death.
Following Biggie’s untimely death in 1997 amid the height of the East and West Coast rap rivalry (famed rapper Tupac had been killed the year prior), Wallace oversaw the late rapper’s estate.
Wallace — who raised Biggie, her only child, by herself — was referenced in some of the rapper’s biggest songs, most notably the 1994 hit “Juicy.”
In a 2005 interview with NPR while promoting her memoir, Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G., she shared how the book was a tribute to the “Hypnotize” artist.
“He has touched so many people and so many people loved him and, you know, still do,” she said. “That cannot take my pain away. What I am feeling inside is like a 100-pound lead weighing down on my chest. It’s very cold and it’s very heavy and I am so dying to get rid of it. But it’s not something you can get rid of, because that was my son. He was my baby. I am a mother and I will always be a mother.”
She was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the Biggie biopic, Notorious, which Wallace served as a producer for.
A number of people have reacted to news of Wallace’s death, including Marc Lamont Hill, Rob Markman, Brian “B.Dot” Miller and others.
