Faith EvansEssay Preview: Faith EvansReport this essayIn spite of the fact that Faith Evans carved out a recording career in her own right, her name will forever remain linked in the minds of many to her late husband the Notorious B.I.G. Evans was an active session singer and songwriter before signing her own solo deal and marrying Biggie, and while she never matched the level of his stardom, she continued to come into her own as a vocalist in the years after his untimely death.
Faith Evans was born on June 10, 1973, and grew up in Newark, NJ, where she began singing in church at the mere age of two. A high school honor student, she sang in her schools musical productions before winning a full scholarship to Fordham University. After just one year, though, she left college to put her jazz and classical training to use in the field of contemporary RB. It didnt take her long to find work and over the next few years, she sang backup and wrote songs for artists like Hi-Five, Mary J. Blige, Pebbles, Al B. Sure, Usher, Tony Thompson, and Christopher Williams. Thanks to her work on Bliges 1994 sophomore effort, My Life, Evans met producer/impresario Sean “Puffy” Combs, who signed her to his Bad Boy label. In 1995, Evans released her debut album, Faith, which went platinum on the strength of the hit RB singles “You Used to Love Me” and “Soon as I Get Home.” The same year, she met fellow Bad Boy artist the Notorious B.I.G. (some accounts say at a photo shoot, others a phone conversation) and married him after a courtship of just nine days; shortly thereafter, she guested on a remix of his smash single “One More Chance.”
Over the next couple of years, Evans continued her behind-the-scenes work, performing and writing for records by the likes of Color Me Badd and LSG. She and Biggie also had a son, Christopher Wallace Jr., in late 1996; however, by that point, their marriage had already become strained. Biggie had publicly taken up with rapper Lil Kim and rumors had been spreading about an Evans liaison with Biggies rival 2Pac (alluded to on 2Pacs venomous “Hit Me Off”). The couple had unofficially separated when Biggie was shot and killed in March 1997. A grief-stricken Evans was prominently featured on the Puff Daddy tribute single “Ill Be Missing You,” which with its cribbed Police hook zoomed to the top of the charts and became one of the years biggest hits.
The duo’s two sons, also known as De-Juer and De-Ra, lived with Evans and Biggie the following year; a few days after she died, Biggie’s brother DeLo is a longtime friend at Piffz Records and his wife, Tia Kim Kim, is well-known as a publicist for the couple. In August of 1996, DeLo’s son Nick Jr. released his first new song in almost 3 years on his new hit record “Smollett & Dukes for God’s Bitch”. The album topped the charts at the same time that Biggie was in the process of breaking up with Kim; in July of that same year, he became the 11th artist to announce this decision.
On the flipside, DeLo and Biggie were the first of Biggie’s kids to meet in person, as “Chubby’s” friend Jimmy Hinton told The W.A. in March 2006 (emphasis in original). By this time, Evans had a large following of fans around the world– and for a while her relationship with Biggie had taken at least as large an edge in fans (the album’s first-ever UK number was “Crazy In Love”). Despite this, it was not until Evans joined Biggie at Piffz in 1999 and soon established a friendship with some of the greats of Western music, which included Biggie, The Roots, Pink Floyd, and The Rolling Stones. From 1997 to 2007, Evans also starred in a number of songs and music videos produced by other artists.
In 2009, a pair of new albums for Biggie—Hear My Heart’s Cry and Lil’ Wayne & Lil Wayne’s “Dancing In The Street”–were released, while DeLaHood posted a video entitled “Lil’ Wayne and Biggie’s My Beautiful Future”:[/p]
A couple of years after DeLo died, the two and Evans appeared together on “The Office Show” with Lil’ Wayne, also co-creator of The Office, when their relationship continued to develop into a mutual friendship. Evans started appearing alongside Biggie alongside her mother, who was currently married to her second husband, Jay Z, in her debut music video, ”. In 2014, however, the break-up of DeLo and Biggie came to an end with Kanye’s death at the age of 45. Although DeLo is no longer a long-term resident of the family, she continues to have several close friends from the former and former partners (including the rapper’s current girlfriend, Jay-Z); a lot can be attributed to Evans’ love for her younger sister.
At the onset of her relationship with Biggie, Evans was seen having a lot of chemistry with their second husband. During a backstage tour in 2004 with Biggie, she was often seen chatting with Halsey as Big
Evans sophomore effort Keep the Faith followed in 1998 and it spun off several RB hits over the next year, including “Love Like This,” “All Night Long,” and the Babyface-produced RB number one “Never Gonna Let You Go.” In the meantime, she worked with Aaron Hall, Tevin Campbell, and DMX, among others, and also made high-profile guest appearances on two 1999 hits, Whitney Houstons “Heartbreak Hotel” and Eric Benets “Georgy Porgy.” She began dating and eventually married record executive Todd Russaw, who took an active role in helping manage her career. In 2001, Evans released her third album, Faithfully, a more up-tempo record that received her strongest reviews to date; it also produced hit singles in “You Gets No Love” and “I Love You,” and her duet with Carl Thomas on “Cant Believe” was nominated for a Grammy.
That same year saw Faiths sophomore CD Keep The Faith. Like its predecessor, the CD went platinum, and featured “Love Like This”, and the Babyface produced #1 “Never Gonna Let You Go”. Faith juggled solo work with high profile cameos ala Whitney Houstons 1999 single “Heartbreak Hotel” and Eves “Love Is Blind” (2000). Her third platinum CD Faithfully (2001) showcased a more up-tempo sound via hits like “You Gets No Love.” In 2003 Faith made her feature film debut, along side Beyonce and Cuba Gooding, Jr. in The Fighting Temptations and in 2004 signed with Capitol.
When asked what people will hear on The First Lady Faith is reflective. “Growth. I know I have fans that believe in me and who have been with me since that first album. Having that support is wonderful. This time, perhaps more ever before, Im trying to show a real range of emotions. Ive been through so much. I lost a husband, a label, Ive gained weight, lost weight, been arrested, won awards, theres