On the cusp of The Notorious B.I.G.'s 50th birthday and just after the 25th anniversary of his death, author Justin Tinsley has written a biography that paints a full picture of those close to late Hip-Hop superstar, including his mother Voletta Wallace, Diddy, Tupac and Biggie's son C.J. Wallace. Tinsley recently released excerpts from the upcoming biography It Was All A Dream: Biggie And The World That Made Him.

“At one point in time, it felt like Biggie’s career was impenetrable,” said Tinsley. “Musically, he could do no wrong, but music was only one part of his life, and while he seemed to be batting 1.000 from an artistic perspective, peeling back the layers revealed a different story."

"So much had changed in Big's life in such a short mount of time. Less than three years earlier he was selling crack in North Carolina, wondering what a legit exit strategy from the drug game looked like, or if it even existed for that matter," Tinsley writes. "Now people of all races and backgrounds were rapping his words and idolizing his every move. The music game wasn't all that different from the drug game."

According to the biography, Biggie's mother Voletta was happy that her son (born Christopher Wallace) was living his dream, but she was concerned about him being careful with the money that he was making. After hearing about MC Hammer losing his fortune, she didn't want that for her son. "Ma, I'll never be poor again," Biggie is said to have assured her. "Trust me, Ma, if I have a question about my money at five o'clock in the morning, I'm calling my accountant like 'how much money I got?'"

It Was All A Dream: Biggie And The World That Made Him has an expected release date of May 10.