Big Pun

Community biography from

Christopher Rios Carlos, better known as Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper who grew up in South Bronx, New York.

His early years were very difficult, his father leaving the family, witnessing his mother's drug abuse, and a stepfather who was very hard on Pun. According to his grandmother, Pun had anger problems. He would punch holes in his family's apartment. Pun dropped out of High School and soon became homeless staying in abandoned buildings or at friends' homes.

In 1990 he formed the Full a Clips Crew with Triple Seis. Pun met fellow Puerto Rican rapper Fat Joe in 1995 and he made a commercial debut on Fat Joes's second album Jealous Ones Envy. In 1997 producer Knobody and Sean C Remixed "I'm Not a Player" became Big Pun's first major mainstream hit and became the first album by a solo Latino rapper to go platinum, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200.

Big Pun became a member of Terror Squad, a New York-based group of rappers founded by Fat Joe. Big Pun's career was cut short in 2000 at age 28 when he died of a heart attack. A tribute documentary called The Legacy was released on September 15, 2009 which contained multiple interviews with artists, actors, close friends and those lives who were touched by Big Pun, and performances and behind the scenes interviews with Big Pun himself.