T’yanna Wallace: 5 Things To Know About The Late Notorious B.I.G.’s Daughter
The Brooklyn rapper’s determination to make a good life for his first born is clear in Netflix’s doc ‘Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell.’ Here’s what you need to know about her.
You only have to listen to the lyrics of The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 classic “Juicy” to know that the late rapper adored his daughter, T’yanna Wallace. Not only did he gush about her on the track, she also made a brief appearance in the video. “Livin’ life without fear. Puttin’ five karats in my baby girl’s ear,” will forever be a celebration of his ability to provide for his family after becoming a successful rap artist.
In Netflix’s new documentary, Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell (which premieres on the streaming service on March 1), viewers will get to see The Notorious B.I.G.’s rise to fame. That includes old photos of his now 27-year-old daughter.
But, while much is known about Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, the Brooklyn native who was tragically killed in March 1997 at just 24, T’yanna is less famous. Here’s what we know about the fashion designer, who is using her talent to make a name for herself while celebrating her dad’s legacy:
1. Who is T’yanna Wallace’s mother?
Biggie Smalls’ mother Voletta Wallace mentions T’yanna’s mom, Jan Jackson, in the Netflix doc while reminiscing about her son becoming a father. “Jan was visiting the house. From what I gather that was his ‘girlfriend’ and, all of a sudden, they broke up,” she said about the romance. “He was at the studio but he came home. He goes, ‘Ma, Ma… Jan’s pregnant.’”
Ms. Wallace, who was born in Jamaica before immigrating to the U.S. as a teen, admitted that she was concerned about how her son (who was on the cusp of fame), planned to support his child. “Are you in a position to be a father…?” she asked him.
It seems that, even though he died when T’yanna was still a toddler, Biggie was still able to provide for his child. “T’yanna has a trust fund in place for her education to make sure that that happens the way her father wanted,” Jan told Hot 97 in a 2012 interview, which you can see above. She also made it clear that her “daughter’s taken care of by her father.”
During the interview with the radio station, Jan also shared details of her romance with Biggie. “I had my daughter when I was 22-years-old,” she said. “I was 22. He was 21. We had been together for four years already, so it wasn’t a fly by night thing. We had a relationship. We talked about it. It wasn’t something that happened and then we went with it.”
2. T’yanna doesn’t remember her dad, but she feels like she knows him.
T’yanna revealed what she knows about her father’s personality in a 2017 Hot 97 interview. “That’s the best thing about my mom and my stepmom Faith [Evans]…and all my dad’s friends,” she said. “They’re all in my life so I hear stories all the time so I…do get the idea of who he was. I know that he was a funny person. He was jokey. I don’t ever feel like someone can come up to me and [I’d] be like, ‘I don’t really know how my dad was.’ No, I get it. He was just a big bundle of joy and everyone loved him and everyone loved being around him.”
3. What does T’yanna do for a living?
T’yanna runs Notoriouss, a clothing boutique in Brooklyn, New York. “I’ve always been into fashion, since high school…” she told iHeart Radio. “I went to Penn State. My major was business and then around my sophomore year I was like I really want to start a clothing line and I really want to do something dedicated and kinda inspired by my dad. So that’s how the name Notoriouss came out and that’s how I started doing my clothing line straight from college. I wanted to do something where I could continue his legacy and I don’t do music, so it wasn’t going to be that. So, I wanted to do something that would keep his name alive and also have me included in it.”
4. She isn’t Biggie’s only child.
T’yanna has a little brother, Christopher Wallace Jr. Born in October 1996 – just five months before the rapper was shot to death in Los Angeles – he is the only child between Biggie and R&B singer Faith Evans.
5. T’yanna celebrates her dad on March 9 every year.
“My dad passed away on March 9th and everyone knows that every year, for my clothing line, I do a special collab, a limited-edition T-shirt for March 9th, and I reach out to artists to help me out…” she told Hot 97. “So, I try and make it a party too. I just want to celebrate his life…and just everything that he’s done.”
