It seems, according to Local12, that the intended target for assassination was actually Sean “Diddy” Combs. The massive rapper was in the wrong place at the wrong time, sitting in the same vehicle as Combs. The reason? Suge Knight, who was the head of Death Row Records, supposedly hired an assassin to kill Combs in revenge for the killing of Tupac Shakur (above). A second layer of the beef was that B.I.G. was part of Combs’ record label, which was a direct rival to Knight’s Death Row Records. This was when the East Coast/West Coast rap rivalry was at its highest peak. 

To add even more intrigue, the Local12 piece indicated that the Los Angeles police department may have covered up the whole thing. It all had enough intrigue for three movies. The police got the shooter, who has since served his sentence. Knight is in prison for a different crime. Combs did a tribute to B.I.G. that also featured Sting, via SongFacts. 

People still remember B.I.G. to this day. The image of him wearing a crown has appeared on shows like Netflix’s Luke Cage (per CBR). Even in death, he looms over the rap landscape.