Before he was the Notorious B.I.G., Christopher Wallace spent his childhood growing up between the streets of Brooklyn and his mother’s family home in Trelawny, Jamaica. So, it may come as no surprise that once the aspiring rapper needed to decide on a stage name for himself, he chose one inspired by a fellow Caribbean islander, actor Calvin Lockhart.

When Biggie started gaining recognition for his virtuoso rapping on the corners of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood he grew up in, he decided to make a demo tape showcasing his talents. He recorded his first tape under the name Biggie Smalls, inspired by the gang leader of the same name in the 1975 movie Let’s Do It Again, starring Calvin Lockhart as the gangster. 

The name was coincidentally also a nod to his childhood nickname, Big.

But actor Calvin Lockhart wasn’t a fan of the free publicity the name was getting as the career of rapper Biggie Smalls started to blow up. Calvin Lockhart sued Christopher and forced him to change his official name to the Notorious B.I.G., which served him throughout his decade-long career, even though he was popularly referred to as Biggie and still is to this day.