| Big Pun |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Christopher Rios |
| Also known as |
Big Punisher |
| Born |
November 9, 1971(1971-11-09) |
| Origin |
South Bronx, Bronx, New York City, New York, United States |
| Died |
February 7, 2000 (aged 28) |
| Genre(s) |
Hip hop |
| Years active |
1991–2000 |
| Label(s) |
Loud Records |
| Associated acts |
Terror Squad, Cuban Link, Triple Seis (rapper), D.I.T.C., Brandy, Remy Ma |
Christopher Rios (November 9, 1971 - February 7, 2000), better known as Big Punisher or Big Pun, was a Puerto Rican-American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s. He first appeared on albums from The Beatnuts, on the track "Off the Books", and on Fat Joe's second album Jealous One's Envy, on the track "Watch Out", prior to signing to Loud Records as a solo artist. Big Pun's career was cut short in 2000 at age 28 when he died of a fatal heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Liza Rios, and three children.
History
Childhood
He grew up in a Puerto Rican community in New York City's South Bronx neighborhood.[1] By all accounts from Pun's family, his early years were very difficult, including witnessing his mother's drug abuse, his father leaving the family, and a stepfather who was very hard on Pun. According to his grandmother, Pun would become angry and self-destructive, punching holes in the walls of his family's apartment and eating pieces of broken drywall. Rios dropped out of high school and for some time was homeless staying in abandoned buildings or at friends' homes.[2]
Pun briefly moved to Philadelphia to stay with a second cousin, Ray Rios, to get back on his feet. He stayed for two months before moving back to New York.
Career
Sometime during the 1980s, he formed the Full a Clips Crew with Triple Seis (rapper), Prospect and Cuban Link who was at the time named "Lyrical Assassin". At this point Big Pun was operating under the alias Big Moon Dawg. Rios met fellow Puerto Rican and Bronx rapper Fat Joe in 1995 and made his commercial debut on Joe's second album, Jealous Ones Still Envy, in addition to appearing on a b-side to Joe's "Envy" single, "Fire Water" and "Watch Out."
Later, "I'm Not a Player" (featuring an O'Jays sample) was supported by a significant advertising campaign and became an underground hit. The song's remix, "Still Not a Player" (featuring Joe) produced by Knobody, became Big Pun's first major mainstream hit. His full-length debut Capital Punishment followed in 1998, and was the first album by a solo Latino rapper to go platinum, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200. Capital Punishment was also nominated for a Grammy, but lost out on the award to Jay-Z's Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life. He became a member of Terror Squad, a New York-based group of rappers founded by Fat Joe, with most of the roster supplied by the now-defunct Full a Clips Crew who released their debut album The Album in 1999. In 1999 he co-starred in the Albert Pyun-directed ghetto-movie Urban Menace, alongside his frequent collaborator Fat Joe.
Also Big Pun had a small role in the 1996 film High School High which starred Jon Lovitz.
Death
Excluding his adolescence, Big Pun struggled with his weight for most of his life; his weight fluctuated in the early 1990s between obese and morbidly obese. Big Pun enrolled in a weight-loss program in North Carolina, in which he lost 80 pounds, but he eventually quit the program before completing it, returning to New York and gaining back the weight he had lost.[1] On February 7, 2000, Big Pun suffered a fatal heart attack and respiratory failure while temporarily staying with familhttp://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/button_italic.pngy at a Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, New York during a home renovation. Pun was pronounced dead at the hospital after paramedics could not revive him.[3] He reportedly weighed 698 pounds at the time of his death(Critser).[citation needed] ' Critser, Greg. Fat Land.2003
Posthumous works
His second album, Yeeeah Baby, completed before his death, was issued as scheduled in April 2000. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts and earned gold record status within three months of its release. A posthumous compilation album, Endangered Species, was released in April 2001. Endangered Species collected some of Pun's "greatest hits," previously unreleased material, numerous guest appearances, and remixed "greatest verses." As with his other albums, it also peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200, reaching #7, but didn't sell as much as the previous Pun albums had.
In recent times, Big Punisher was featured with Fat Joe on "Duets: The Final Chapter," an album of tracks featuring the Notorious B.I.G, also deceased. The track "Get Your Grind On" begins with a Big Pun radio interview in which he said he would perform a duet with Biggie at the gates of heaven.[4] Punisher was also featured on a track from the revived Terror Squad's second album, True Story, on the track "Bring 'Em Back" with Big L.
On May 2, 2001, a Bronx City Council committee stalled plans to rename a small portion of Rogers Place in honor of Big Pun because of distaste over Big Pun's lyrics, which according to The New York Times "include profanity and references to violence and drug dealing".[5]
Sony Records has been considering releasing a second posthumous album featuring unreleased material [6], but the project is being delayed by Sony. [7] Liza Rios also held an auction in 2005 for her deceased husband's Terror Squad medallion, citing financial difficulties in the wake of Pun's death, and again claiming to have not received any royalty checks for Pun's posthumous album sales (save for a small check from the sales of Endangered Species). [8]
Still Not a Player documentary
In 2002, Pun's widow, Liza Rios, released a documentary about her late husband, Still Not A Player. The film features commentary from many of Pun's close friends and family members, details the struggles with his weight, and also reveals how at times, Pun would become physically abusive with his wife - in one scene, he is caught on camera while pistol whipping her.[9] The release of the documentary and its content caused a falling out between Fat Joe and Rios, as Rios repeatedly claimed to have not received any royalties from the sales of Endangered Species, .[10]
Big Pun: The Legacy documentary
A new tribute documentary Big Pun: The Legacy is currently in post-production. The film will contain multiple interviews with artists, actors, close friends and others whose lives were touched by Big Pun, as well as rare exclusive performances and scene interviews with Big Pun himself. The film will feature appearances by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Snoop Dogg DMX, Method Man, U-God, Liza Rios, Xzibit, Cuban Link, Swizz Beatz, DJ Skribble and many more. The documentary will come out September 15, 2009.
Discography
Studio Albums
Albums
As a member of Terror Squad
Singles
External links
References
- ^ a b Huey, Steve (2002). "Big Punisher > Biography". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dnfwxq8hldte~T1publisher=allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.
- ^ Still Not a Player, Documentary
- ^ Pareles, Jon (2000-02-09). "Christopher Rios, 28, Rapper Recorded Under Name Big Pun". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E1D8153EF93AA35751C0A9669C8B63. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.
- ^ Juon, Steve (2005-12-20). "Notorious B.I.G: Duets: The Final Chapter". RapReviews.com. http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2005_12_duets.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.
- ^ Cardwell, Diane (2001-05-02). "Bronx: No Street For Big Pun". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E0DB1238F930A35756C0A9679C8B63. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.
- ^ Exclusive Hip Hop News, Audio, Lyrics, Videos, Honeys, Wear, Sneakers, Download Mixtapes
- ^ Producer Delays Release Of New Big Pun Album | Daily Hip-Hop News | SOHH.com /
- ^ [1]
- ^ Big Pun Movie Shows His Other Side - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
- ^ http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=1315
