It’s been 14 years since Christopher Wallace a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in the streets of L.A. and yet police still haven’t found his killer.
On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at around 12:30 a.m. That night, Wallace had attended the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards. After the awards Wallace and his entourage attended a party hosted by VIBE magazine at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Wallace sat in the passenger of his GMC Suburbans, followed by his crew in another Suburban.
Wallace’s truck stopped at a red light 50 yards from the museum. On Wilshire blvd and Fairfax, a black Chevrolet Impala pulled up alongside Wallace’s truck. The driver of the Impala rolled down their window, drew a nine mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Wallace in the chest. Wallace was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m.
Biggie’s death shook the Hip-Hop world, and because of it the landscape has never been the same. Unfortunately, Biggie’s murder was not the last in the rap scene. From Tupac Shakur to Big L, murderous violence has taken the lives of rappers long before they were able to live out their true potential.
These beloved rappers’ murders have gone unsolved.
No one has even been arrested for Biggie’s murder and 15 years later we still don’t know who killed Tupac. Why are rappers’ murder cases never solved? Is it because witnesses fail to report what happened? Are they afraid of being labeled a snitch? It’s hard to believe that no one knows who killed Biggie or Tupac.
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Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur was shot on the streets of Las Vegas after he attended the Mike Tyson–Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand on September 7, 1996. Driving away from the MGM Grand, Shakur stopped at a red light on Flamingo Road near the intersection of Koval Lane. At 11:15pm, a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac pulled up to the sedan’s right side and rolled down one of the windows. Rapidly gunshots were fired at Shakur. Bullets hit him in the chest, pelvis, lungs, his right hand and thigh.
Shakur was rushed to the University Medical Center and survived numerous surgeries over the course of seven days. On the afternoon of September 13, 1996 passed away from internal bleeding. The official cause of death was noted as respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest in connection with multiple gunshot wounds. Fifteen years later Tupac’s murder is still unsolved.
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Big L
Lamont Coleman a.k.a. Big L was one of the first rap artists to put Harlem on the map.
February 15, 1999 marks the day of Coleman’s death. He was found murdered in his West 139th street apartment building in Harlem, NY having suffered bullet wounds to the head and chest.
Big L was a lyrical genius. His word play and semantic capabilities made him standout among the top M.C.’s in the 90’s. L was a true talent whose life was cut short way before its time.
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Soulja Slim
James Tapp, Jr. a.k.a. Soulja Slim was a driving force behind southern rap’s emergence. On Thanksgiving Eve, November 26, 2003, Slim was en-route to a performance when he was shot four times— three times in the face, and once in the chest, in front of his mother’s home. Eight years after his death no one has been convicted.
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Stack Bundles
Rayquon Elliott a.k.a. Stack Bundles was a young rising star in the New York hip-hop scene in the early 2000s.
On June 11, 2007 Stack was en route to his Beach Channel Drive home in Far Rockaway Queens, when he was shot once in the head and neck.
The underground mixtape scene has felt a void since Stack’s death. Four years later and no one has been convicted.
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Magnolia Shorty
Renetta Lowe a.k.a. Magnolia Shorty was the first woman signed to Cash Money Records. Rowe grew up in New Orleans’ notorious Magnolia Projects. Known for her eccentric elements of sexuality, comedy and hard–edged dance rhythms, Shorty was one of the first female southern artists to make it big.
On December 20, 2010 shortly before 12:30 p.m. in the 6300 block of Bridgehampton Drive in eastern New Orleans, Lowe and another man were found inside of a vehicle suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Lowe’s murder is still unsolved.
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Mac Dre
Andre Louis Hicks better known as Mac Dre was one of the originators of the hyphy movement in Oakland, California. On November 1, 2004, Dre was in a van heading to Kansas City, Missouri. A car pulled up next to Hicks and opened fire. The van swerved off the road and ran into a ditch. Paramedics found Hicks dead from a gunshot wound.
Unsurprisingly, we still don’t know who killed Mac Dre.
Not much needs to be said. The above list speaks for itself; rappers murders go unsolved. Not only do we miss these talents, but we can only wish that justice had been served to those who took them from us.
