May 21 marks the birthday of the widely celebrated rapper, Notorious B.I.G.

Despite the fact that his life was cut short at the tender age of 24, he left his mark on the hip hop world and still had a large influence on the rappers today.

To commemorate his birthday, we wanted to highlight some of our favorite stories told through hip hop songs.

Inspired by the senseless murder of a Queens woman named Ebony, “Renee” tells the story of a blossoming romance between a man and a woman that is tragically cut short when Renee is fatally gunned down.

“It’s a true story and a story with some creativeness with it,” Mr. Cheeks told RapDillz in a 2017 interview.