Big Pun’s record speaks for itself. His career as a rapper is an indispensable part of rap and the great hip-hop culture. By 1997, the rapper was already a big name in the underground rap scene and had already done plenty of reporting on big name projects such as Fat Joe, The Beatnuts and Flesh-N-Bone. He eventually signed his first professional recording contract the same year with Loud Records.
Big Pun holds the record for the first LatinoEmcee to have a solo project achieve platinum certification. His lyrical dexterity and multi-syllabic rhyming style won him praise from all quarters. Since his death, publications and networks like About.com, MTV2 and The Source have named him to their respective lists featuring the greatest rappers of all time. One can only wonder how high he could have reached if his life had not been cut short.
Who is Big Pun? Biography, Age
The ’90s rapper was born Christopher Rios Lee to Puerto Rican Parents in Bronx, New York on Nov. 10, 1971. The emcee who reportedly had at least three siblings reportedly had a difficult childhood. As a teenager, he took up basketball and boxing, but couldn’t seem to progress either. At age 15, Big Pun left his mother’s house. In the late 80s, Christopher was homeless and suffering from depression due to his childhood experiences.
He had suffered a leg injury at the age of 5 while playing in a city park. As a result, the city offers him a considerable settlement. It was with this money that he married Liza, his high school sweetheart. They moved into a house together but things didn’t go well.
Unlike most of the others, however, his drug of choice to deal with it was food. By the age of 21, Rios had more than doubled his weight, dropping from 180 pounds at age 18 to 300 pounds. For the young man, this prevented him from tying his own shoes.
Big Pun ventured into rapping when he started writing lyrics in the mid-80s. Operating under the moniker Big Moon Dawg, he later formed a rap group known as Full-A-Clips. along with three other friends: Joker Jamz, Toom, and Lyrical Assassin. The group recorded a number of unreleased songs in the early 90s.
Christopher who had changed his stage name to BigPunisher met rapper Fat Joe. The two men formed an instant friendship due to their similarities; they both resided in the Bronx and both came from Puerto Rico. In 1995, it was featured on Fat Joe’s second album. Jealous One’s Envy. This collaboration brought him essential commercial attention. Over the next two years, he featured on albums by The Beatnuts ( Pierre fou ) and Chair-N-Bones (THUGS). He also debuted his debut “I’m Not A Gamer” which became a massive underground hit and peaked at #57 on the chart. Billboard 100.
After signing a recording contract with Loud Records, Big Pun released their debut album Capital Punishment in 1998. It was a resounding success. The album was nominated for a Grammy and peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. The album would eventually go platinum.
Pun’s long-lasting relationship with Fat Joe has seen him become an integral part of the rapper’s stable. This rap group was known as Terror Squad and released their first project in 1999 creatively titled The Album. The idea was for the group to succeed in launching the solo careers of all of its members, most of them hailing from Big Pun’s former band, The Full-A-Clips. The album received positive reviews, but did not fare well commercially.
weight problem
Amidst all this success, Christopher’s demons still haunted him. Her weight had become a matter of serious concern, even among her friends. In his early twenties, he alternated between obesity and morbid obesity. He enrolled in a weight loss program at Duke University. The program helped him lose about 36 kg (80 lbs). Unfortunately, the rapper withdrew from the program prematurely and therefore gained weight.
Mortal and posthumous deaths
The rapper was scheduled to appear on an episode of Saturday Night Live alongside his friend Fat Joe and singer Jennifer Lopez on February 5, 2000. However, he fell ill and had to pull out of the scheduled appearance. Two days later, he suffered a heart attack and respiratory failure while spending time with his family. He was quickly taken to hospital, but it turned out to be too late as paramedics found no success in their attempt to resuscitate him. He was 28 at the time of his death and weighed 317 kg (698 lb).
Big “Christopher” Pun was working on his next album at the time of his passing. Two months after his passing, the album titled Yeeeah Baby was released to huge acclaim. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts and was certified gold three months after its release. A year later, the album Endangered Species was released. It was a compilation of the rapper’s greatest songs, some of his unreleased works, and remixes of his best verses and features. Endangered Species peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200.
There was also Duos: The Final Chapter with Big Pun, Fat Joe and Notorious BIG
In May 2001, there were plans to rename a city property in honor of Big Pun, however, the New York City Council stalled the plans citing their disgust at the profanity and vices encouraged in the rapper’s lyrics. . In 2009, a tribute documentary was filmed and released, titled Big Pun: The Legacy.
Big Pun’s Wife, Son (Chris Rivers)
The Bronx host had married his longtime wife and girlfriend Liza in her late teens. Together, they had given birth to three children. The first child Amanda was born in 1991. The second Vanessa was born in 1993 and Christopher Jr. followed in 1994.
Christopher Jr. better known as Chris Rivers began his music career in 2002, two years after Big Pun passed away. Wanting to be called Baby Pun, he was part of a short-lived band called 3 Down. Known as Chris Rivers, he took his rap career seriously from the age of 18 and has released over six projects. Rivers, whose style is akin to that of his father, has worked with names such as Joell Ortiz, Chino XL and the Wu-Tang clan.
Four years after Big Pun’s death, Lizason’s personalized Terror Squad medallion up for auction on eBay. She revealed that she was struggling financially and received no royalties from her album sales.
the size
During his lifetime and even in death, Emcee’s weight has long been a topic of debate, eclipsing any talk of his body stats. The rapper stood at a height of 1.71m (5ft 7in).