| Big Punisher |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT BIG PUN | |
| 1971 births | |
| 2000 deaths | |
| american rappers | |
| puerto rican rappers | |
| american dance musicians | |
| terror squad members | |
| new york city musicians | |
| people from the bronx | |
Christopher Lee Rios ( November 9 1971 – February 7 2000 ), better known as '''Big Punisher''' or '''Big Pun''', was a New York Rapper of Puerto Rican descent 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 by a fatal Heart Attack due to his Obesity . He is survived by a wife, Liza Rios, and three children. HISTORY Childhood Born in the South Bronx in The Bronx during the early years of hip-hop, Christopher Rios grew up enjoying Basketball , Boxing , and other sports. He met his wife Liza in the eighth grade. At the age of five, he broke his leg in a Manhattan Municipal Park , resulting in a Lawsuit against the City of New York, later Settled Out Of Court . 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 step-father 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 . At the age of 15, Rios dropped out of Stevenson High School and for some time was homeless, staying in abandoned buildings or at friends' homes.Still Not a Player, Documentary Career Sometime during the '80s, he began to write rap lyrics, forming 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 Bronx rapper Fat Joe in 1995 and made his commercial debut on Joe's second album, '' Jealous One's Envy '', in addition to appearing on a b-side to Joe's "Envy" single, "Fire Water." Later, "I'm Not a Player" (featuring an .'' He became a member of The 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. Death Despite his athletic Adolescence , Big Pun struggled with his weight for most of his life; his weight fluctuated in the early 90's between heavy and obese. In the last years of his life he fluctuated between 450 and 700 pounds. At Fat Joe's urging, Big Pun enrolled in a weight-loss program at Duke University , in which he lost 100 pounds, but he eventually quit the program before completing it, returning to New York and gaining back the weight he had lost. On February 7, 2000, Big Pun suffered a fatal heart attack in White Plains, NY . 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. It eventually went platinum. A second Posthumous album, '' Endangered Species '', was released in April of 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 Last Chapter," second album, '' True Story ,'' on the track "Bring 'Em Back" with Big L. Sony Records has been considering releasing a second posthumous album featuring unreleased material but the project is being delayed by Sony. [http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/9320 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''). [http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=4560] ''Still Not a Player'' documentary In 2002, Pun's widow, Liza Rios, released a documentary about her late husband, '' and Rios, as Rios repeatedly claimed to have not received any royalties from the sales of ''Endangered Species'', which was where the proceeds from that album's sales were designed to go. {Link without Title} TRIVIA
DISCOGRAPHY Solo albums
Terror Squad
Singles
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