Christopher Rios (November 9, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s. He first appeared on albums from The Beatnuts, on the track "Off the Books", and on Fat Joe's second album Jealous One's Envy, on the track "Watch Out", prior to signing to Loud Records as a solo artist. Big Pun's career was cut sh...
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Christopher Rios (November 9, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s. He first appeared on albums from The Beatnuts, on the track "Off the Books", and on Fat Joe's second album Jealous One's Envy, on the track "Watch Out", prior to signing to Loud Records as a solo artist. Big Pun's career was cut short in 2000 at age 28 when he died of a fatal heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Liza Rios, and three children.
He grew up in a Puerto Rican community in New York City's South Bronx neighborhood. By all accounts from Rios's family, his early years were very difficult, including witnessing his mother's drug abuse, his father leaving the family, and a stepfather who was very hard on Rios. According to his grandmother, Rios would become angry and self-destructive, punching holes in the walls of his family's apartment. Rios dropped out of...
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