Big Pun: Difference between revisions
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*US: Platinum<ref name="RIAA">{{cite web|url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=Big%20Pun&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=CertificationDate&perPage=50|title=Gold & Platinum - Big Pun|publisher=RIAA|accessdate=2009-07-15}}</ref> |
*US:2x Platinum<ref name="RIAA">{{cite web|url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=Big%20Pun&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=CertificationDate&perPage=50|title=Gold & Platinum - Big Pun|publisher=RIAA|accessdate=2009-07-15}}</ref> |
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*CAN : Gold<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php|title=Search Certification Database|publisher=CRIA|accessdate=2009-07-15}} Keyword under '''artist name''': "Big Punisher"</ref> |
*CAN : Gold<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php|title=Search Certification Database|publisher=CRIA|accessdate=2009-07-15}} Keyword under '''artist name''': "Big Punisher"</ref> |
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Revision as of 17:39, 4 July 2010
Big Pun |
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Christopher Lee Carlos Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an 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" in 1997, and on Fat Joe's second album Jealous One's Envy in 1995, 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 heart attack.
Biography
Early life
Rios 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. Rios dropped out of high school and for some time was homeless staying in abandoned buildings or at friends' homes.[2]
Music career
During the 1980s, Big Punisher worked to improve his skills and eventually formed the Full a Clips Crew with Triple Seis, 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 Rutland rapper Fat Joe in 1995 and made his commercial debut on Joe's second album, Jealous Ones 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.
In 1997 producer Knobody's production partner Sean C took advantage of his new role as A&R at Loud Records to play one of their tracks to Big Pun.[3] Suitably impressed the rapper hired Knobody and Sean C to remix "I'm Not a Player".[3] The song, featuring Joe, became Big Pun's first major mainstream hit and major breakthrough for Knobody.[3] The full-length debut Capital Punishment followed in 1998, and became 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.
Big Pun 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.
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 family 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.[4]
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.
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.[5] 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".[6]
Sony Records has been considering releasing a second posthumous album featuring unreleased material [7], but the project is being delayed by Sony.[8] 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).[9]
Big Pun: The Legacy documentary
A tribute documentary Big Pun: The Legacy was released on September 15, 2009. The film contains 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 also features appearances by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Method Man, U-God, Liza Rios, Xzibit, Cuban Link, Swizz Beatz, DJ Skribble, Chino XL and many more. Film is directed by Vlad Yudin. It is distributed through Vivendi Universal and The Soundtrack is released through Legacy/Columbia Records, Sony Music.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions[10] | Certifications (Sales thresholds) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | CAN | |||
| 1998 | Capital Punishment
|
5 | 1 | 11 | |
| 2000 | Yeeeah Baby
|
3 | 1 | — |
|
| 2001 | Endangered Species
|
7 | 2 | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions[13] | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. Rap | |||
| 1997 | "I'm Not a Player" | 57 | 19 | 3 | Capital Punishment |
| 1998 | "Still Not a Player" (featuring Joe) | 24 | 6 | 13 | |
| "You Came Up" (featuring Noreaga) | — | 49 | 43 | ||
| 2000 | "It's So Hard" (featuring Donell Jones) | 75 | 19 | 11 | Yeeeah Baby |
| "100%" (featuring Tony Sunshine) | — | 64 | — | ||
| 2001 | "How We Roll" (featuring Ashanti) | — | 53 | 16 | Endangered Species |
As featured performer
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Rap | |||
| 1996 | "Firewater" (Fat Joe featuring Big Pun, Raekwon, and Armaggedon)[a] | 76 | 44 | 8 | Endangered Species |
| 1997 | "Off the Books" (The Beatnuts feat. Big Pun and Cuban Link) | 86 | 52 | 12 | Stone Crazy |
| 1998 | "Someone to Hold" (Veronica feat. Big Pun and Cuban Link) | — | 101 | — | Rise |
| "Western Ways Part II" (Delinquent Habits feat. Big Pun and JuJu) | — | 102[14] | — | Here Come the Horns | |
| "I'll Be Around" (Rah Sun feat. Big Pun and Deuce) | 125[15] | 89[16] | 30[17] | It's Not a Game | |
| 1999 | "Bet Ya Man Can't (Triz)" (Fat Joe feat. Big Pun and Cuban Link) | — | 54 | 37 | Don Cartagena |
| "From N.Y. to N.O." (Mr. Serv-On feat. Big Pun | — | — | — | Da Next Level | |
| "On Point" (Heavy D featuring 8Ball & Big Pun) | — | — | — | Heavy | |
| 2000 | "Symphony 2000" (Truck feat. Big Pun, Kool G Rap, and KRS-One) | — | — | 35[18] | Non-album single |
| "Feelin' So Good" (Jennifer Lopez feat. Fat Joe and Big Pun) | 51 | 44 | — | On the 6 | |
a. ^ "Firewater" was the B-side to the single "Envy" by Fat Joe.
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "Twinz (Deep Cover '98)" | Chris Robinson[19] |
| "Still Not a Player" | Darren Grant[20] | |
| 2000 | "It's So Hard" | Chris Robinson[19] |
| "100%" | Chris Robinson[19] | |
| 2001 | "How We Roll" |
Filmography
- Moesha (1998) - Himself (as Big Punisher)
- Thicker Than Water (1999) - Punny
- Urban Menace (1999) - Crow
- Whiteboyz (1999) - Don Flip Crew (uncredited)
- Boricua's Bond (2000) - Himself (as Big Punisher)
- Still Not a Player (2002) - Himself (archive footage)
- Big Pun Live (2002) - Himself (archive footage)
- Big Pun: The Legacy (2009) - Himself (archive footage)
References
- ^ a b Huey, Steve (2002). "Big Punisher > Biography". Retrieved 2008-12-20. Cite error: The named reference "allmusic" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Still Not a Player, Documentary
- ^ a b c "Interview With Knobody". HitQuarters. Sep 27, 2005. Retrieved Jul 1, 2010.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (2000-02-09). "Christopher Rios, 28, Rapper Recorded Under Name Big dummy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
- ^ Juon, Steve (2005-12-20). "Notorious B.I.G: Duets: The Final Chapter". RapReviews.com. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
- ^ Cardwell, Diane (2001-05-02). "Bronx: No Street For Big Pun". The New York Times. Retrieved 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 Punisher > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ a b "Gold & Platinum - Big Pun". RIAA. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "Search Certification Database". CRIA. Retrieved 2009-07-15. Keyword under artist name: "Big Punisher"
- ^ "Big Punisher > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "Western Ways Part II". Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles. Billboard. 1998-09-26. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "I'll Be Around". Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Billboard. 1998-09-26. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "I'll Be Around". Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Billboard. 1998-10-03. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "I'll Be Around". Hot Rap Singles. Billboard. 1998-11-07. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "Symphony 2000". Hot Rap Singles. Billboard. 1999-10-30. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ a b c "Chris Robinson". MVDBase.com. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
- ^ Grant, Darren (director); Big Pun (performer); Joe (performer) (2000). Still Not a Player (Music video). Loud Records.