Biggie Cheese
Biggie Cheese (August 7, 1954 – November 7, 2016) was a gangsta rapper and former U.S. Army Lieutenant, who was made famous for his cameo in the 2006 animated film Barnyard. During Biggie's lifetime, he produced 68 songs and released 20 albums. His most popular piece of work was his single dropped in 1999 that was titled "Orphanage on Fire". It was this song that helped Biggie Cheese gain notoriety around the planet. He has sold over 48 million CDs and has also received 1.2 billion streams on Spotify.
Early life[edit]
Childhood and education[edit]
Biggie Cheese was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended Eric Cartman High School (formerly known as Heinrich Himmler High School) until dropping out in 1970 and lying about his age to serve in the U.S. army.
Vietnam War[edit]
In 1970, a 16-year-old Biggie Cheese lied about his age and joined the U.S. army to serve in the Vietnam War. Biggie Cheese was quickly promoted to 2nd lieutenant after less than a year of service; however Biggie's army career would be cut short when he was wounded in combat after single-handedly saving his entire combat unit in 1972 from an onslaught of grenades thrown by North Vietnamese army troops. For his bravery in the incident Biggie Cheese was awarded a Purple Heart medal and a commemoration from President Richard Nixon.
Entry into music[edit]
After the events in Vietnam, Biggie Cheese suffered from PTSD and felt that he couldn't live with his life anymore. After numerous suicide attempts, he cleaned up his act and decided that music was the answer. Biggie Cheese first started free-styling with some beats given to him by his former sergeant in the army, Sergeant Mickey Mouse.
Music career[edit]
Early music career[edit]
Biggie Cheese released his first song in 1987 titled "Intercourse with an AK". He initially started selling his songs on audio cassettes out of his garage until 1990 when he founded a record label to distribute his music, Big Cheese Records. Biggie Cheese would release his first major hit in 1993 titled "Mr. Steal Your Girl", which went on to sell over 3.5 million CDs and vinyl records.
Rise to popularity[edit]
After the success of "Mr. Steal Your Girl", Biggie Cheese released his first album in late 1993 titled The Biggie Cheese Collection, and began hosting concerts in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, and Chicago. Biggie Cheese's rise to fame didn't stop there however; in 1994 Biggie would release another major hit, "Smoking Nic' and Sucking Dick" which went on to sell 2.9 million CDs and vinyl records. Biggie Cheese released in 1999 what many consider his best song, titled "Orphanage on Fire". It quickly became a hit upon release, selling out in record stores everywhere within hours. Many of Biggie Cheese's fans consider the years from 1990 until 2000 to be "The golden era of Biggie Cheese".
Detroit concert shooting[edit]
Biggie Cheese's life would almost be cut short in 1998 because of a shooting during a concert in Detroit. On June 4, 1998 at 12:46 PM, while Biggie Cheese was preforming "Mr. Steal Your Girl" during a concert in Detroit, a man opened fire upon the stage that Biggie was performing on with a M16A4 assault rifle. Biggie Cheese was shot twice in the chest and hid behind a speaker until security could handle the man firing at the stage. The man in question was later identified as Remy the Rat, a former friend of Biggie Cheese. When asked about his motive for the shooting he told interrogators, "That motherfucker didn't give me 5 bucks we were betting on back in 1989!", Remy was later sentenced to execution by firing squad.
Hiatus and return[edit]
On February 21, 2000, Biggie Cheese announced on his website that he would be taking a break from making music because Biggie claimed that he ran out of ideas for songs.
Biggie Cheese's break ended on April 1, 2006. Biggie announced on his Twitter page that his break was over and released a single titled, "I'm Back", which was a parody of Michael Jackson's song, "Bad". One day later, on April 2, Biggie announced on his Twitter page that he was taking another break from making music. Biggie Cheese's fans were outraged at the news and demanded he come back to making music.
Second hiatus and return[edit]
On June 5, 2015, Biggie Cheese announced that he would be making a return from his break and that he would be making music until he eventually retires. Upon Biggie's return he released a remastered version of his song, "I'm Back", as well as an all-new song titled "Guns, Sex and Bitches". During the recording of "Guns, Sex and Bitches", Biggie Cheese suffered from an asthma attack which nearly ended his life; luckily he survived. On January 5, 2016, Biggie Cheese released a "modernized" version of "Orphanage on Fire" which included references to then-popular online video game Fortnite.
Death[edit]
On November 7, 2016, Biggie Cheese would be killed in a drive-by shooting at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Nevada. To this day no one knows who killed Biggie Cheese.
Legacy[edit]
Although Biggie Cheese lied about his age to join the army, he will go down in history as one of the bravest men to ever serve in the military and be known as the single greatest rapper ever born.