Big Pun

Met with critical acclaim and commercial success, the album earned a nomination for Best Rap Album at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, peaked at number five on the Billboard 200, and became the first hip hop recording by a Latino solo act to receive platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His second album, Yeeeah Baby (2000) peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, although Pun died two months before its release.

• Name — Big Pun • Birth Name — Christopher Lee Rios • Alias — * Big Punisher • Big Dog The Punisher • Big Moon Dawg • Born — 10 November 1971 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Died — 7 February 2000 • Place of death — White Plains, New York, U.S. • Genre — * East Coast hip-hop • Latin hip-hop • gangsta rap • hardcore hip-hop • Years Active — 1992–2000 • Occupation — * Rapper • songwriter • actor • Label — * RED • Columbia • SRC • Loud • Terror Squad • Past Member Of — Terror Squad

Rios was born in the South Bronx in New York City to parents of Puerto Rican descent. He grew up in the Soundview neighborhood and had at least two sisters and one brother. He regularly played basketball and trained in boxing. He moved out of his mother's house at age 15 and was homeless for a period of time in the late 1980s. Later, he received a large personal injury settlement from the city stemming from an incident in 1976, where Rios broke his leg while playing in a park. After receiving the settlement money, Rios married his high school sweetheart, Liza, in 1990 and the two moved into a house together. Rios struggled with depression stemming from his turbulent childhood, and he coped with it by overeating. Between the ages of 18 and 21, Rios's weight rocketed from to.

During the late 1980s, he began writing rap lyrics. He later formed the underground group Full-A-Clips with Lyrical Assassin, Joker Jamz, and Toom. Rios made a number of recordings with the group in the 1990s, which have not been released. At this point, Rios was operating under the alias Big Moon Dawg. After changing his stage name to Big Punisher, Rios met fellow Puerto Rican and Bronx rapper Fat Joe in 1995 and made his commercial debut on Fat Joe's second album, Jealous One's Envy, in addition to appearing on the song, "Watch Out". He also appeared in The Beatnuts' song "Off the Books".

In 1997, Big Pun began recording songs for his debut album Capital Punishment. In 1997, producer Knobody's production partner Sean C took advantage of his new role as A&R at Loud Records to play Knobody's tracks to Big Pun. Suitably impressed, the rapper hired Knobody to remix "I'm Not a Player". The remixed song, featuring Joe and titled "Still Not a Player", became Big Pun's first major mainstream hit and major breakthrough for Knobody. The full-length debut Capital Punishment followed in 1998, and became the first album by a solo Hispanic rapper to go platinum, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. Capital Punishment was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

Big Pun became a member of Terror Squad, a New York–based group of rappers founded by Fat Joe, with most of the roster supplied by the now-defunct Full-A-Clips who released their debut album The Album in 1999. The album did not fare well commercially but it was well received critically and the album was meant to start the foundation for all other Terror Squad members to release their solo projects. Big Pun also contributed vocals to the song "Piña Colada" with rapper Sheek Louch from the compilation album Ryde or Die Vol. 1, and appeared as a featured artist on Jennifer Lopez’s 1999 debut single "Feelin’ So Good", alongside Fat Joe.

Rios struggled with weight issues his entire adult life. He weighed 180 lb at age 18, which increased to 300 lb at 21. His weight fluctuated in the early 1990s between obese and morbidly obese. Shortly after the release of Capital Punishment in April 1998, Rios was ordered by a doctor to rest for two weeks, after he showed signs of exhaustion while doing promotional work. Rios enrolled in a weight-loss program at Duke University in the summer of 1999 at 600 pounds, and shed 100 lb, but he prematurely quit the program and within four months regained the weight. His weight was a constant topic of argument among him and his friends, to the point that Rios did not like to eat around them. Around two weeks before his death, Liza noticed that his body began to deteriorate from the obesity, and that when he ate, he frequently vomited, and his skin appeared unhealthy. On February 5, 2000, Rios withdrew from a planned Saturday Night Live performance with Fat Joe and Jennifer Lopez due to illness. Two days later while staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel with his family in White Plains, New York, he suffered a heart attack and respiratory failure and was rushed to White Plains Hospital, where he died at the age of 28 after paramedics were unable to revive him. His weight had reached a peak of 698 lb at the time of his death. Rios was survived by his wife, Liza, and their three children, Star, Vanessa, and Christopher Jr. Thousands of fans showed up in what amounted to a block party outside of Ortiz Funeral Home, and a funeral procession was held for him. Rios was cremated and buried at Woodlawn Cemetery near Woodlawn Heights, Bronx.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1998 — Moesha — Himself — Credited as Big Punisher • 1999 — Thicker than Water — Punny • Urban Menace — Crow • Whiteboyz — Don Flip Crew — Uncredited • 2000 — Boricua's Bond — Himself — Credited as Big Punisher Posthumous release • 2002 — Big Pun: Still Not a Player — Himself — Archival footage Posthumous release • Big Pun Live — Himself • 2007 — Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops — Himself • 2008 — Big Pun: The Legacy — Himself • 2010 — Big Pun's Legacy: The Lost Files — Himself

Big Pun was recorded at birth as Julio Hernandez Guzman. He also worked under the name Big Pun. The authorities additionally record the headings Big Punisher, Christopher Rios, Big Moon Dawg, Pun and Christopher Lee Rios. His recorded language was English.