NEW YORK, NY January 09, 2009 —Notorious B.I.G. was one of hip hop's most influential artists. His meteoric rise in the rap scene was stopped short when he was murdered in 1997, three years after releasing his debut album. Now his life is up on the big screen, in a bio-pic called "Notorious" opening next Friday.

The film premiered last night in New York and Los Angeles, where it drew stars like Beyonce and Jay-Z. At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the rapper's mother Voletta Wallace spoke to a crowd of young fans after a screening.

WALLACE: You might doing something out there that your mother or father don't know. Stop it. (laughter, applause) Be honest. Do what you have to do to make your life better.

REPORTER: Notorious B.I.G was also known as Biggie Smalls. He grew up in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. He dropped out of high school and was involved with drugs and crime before he became a rap artist. He was killed at the age of 24 in Los Angeles in a murder that remains unsolved.