Voletta Wallace, the mother of rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace who spent decades preserving her late son’s legacy, has died at the age of 72.
Thomas Yanac, coroner for Monroe County, PA, confirmed Wallace’s death, adding that she died of natural causes on hospice care at her home in Stroudsburg, PA.
Christopher Wallace was the only child of Jamaican immigrants Selwyn George Latore and Voletta Wallace, who worked as a preschool teacher in Christopher’s native Brooklyn, New York. Following the still-unsolved 1997 shooting death of her son, Wallace was thrust into the role of steward of the Notorious B.I.G.’s legacy, which she began soon after the murder when she accepted the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video in 1997 for “Hypnotize” on behalf of the late rapper.
At the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, Voletta Wallace and Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur, appeared onstage together in an effort to lower the temperature in the simmering West Coast-East Coast rap beef and instead focus on the impact hip-hop could have culturally.
“The fact that we are even standing here shows what the power of faith, friends, family, loved ones, and fans can do to bring us all closer,” Voletta said at the 1999 VMAs. “Music can enhance our chances to hold us together, help us to reach others, cross language barriers and color lines, thus giving us hope for the next millennium.”
While the Notorious B.I.G.’s legacy would forever be connected with the career arc of Sean “Diddy” Combs — Wallace would become one of Combs’ breakout stars on his then-new Bad Boy label — Voletta harshly criticized Combs following sexual and physical abuse allegations against the Bad Boy exec.
“I hope that I see Sean one day and the only thing I want to do is slap the daylights out of him. And you can quote me on that,” Wallace told Rolling Stone last May. “Because I liked him. I didn’t want to believe all the awful things, but I’m so ashamed and embarrassed.”
As the Notorious B.I.G.’s children and Voletta’s grandchildren grew into adulthood, they largely handled the responsibility of carrying on their father’s legacy, including delivering his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech in 2020. However, Voletta remained a presence, including approving the first-ever authorized documentary about her son.
“It brings so much joy to my heart that my son Christopher’s music has made such an impact on the music community and his stories have positively inspired so many young men and women over the years, and still influencing the youth all over the world today,” Wallace said in 2017 on the 20th anniversary of Biggie’s death.
