Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City in the early 1990s, he came to prominence upon being discovered by fellow Bronx rapper Fat Joe, and made his earliest appearance on his 1995 album Jealous One's Envy. In 1997, Big Pun signed with Fat Joe's label, Terror Squad Productions in conjunction with RCA and Loud Records as a solo artist. The same year, he released his Grammy-nominated debut studio album Capital Punishment in April 1998 to critical acclaim and commercial success, peaking at #5 on the Billboard 200 and becoming the first solo hip hop record by a Latino artist to go Platinum. Early life 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 settlement from the city stemming from an incident in 1976, where Rios broke his leg while playing in a park. Using his settlement money, Rios married his high school sweetheart, Liza, and the two moved into a home 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' weight rocketed from to ; he was consequently unable to tie his own shoes. Career 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 on The Beatnuts' song "Off the Books". Capital Punishment (1997–1998) In 1997, Big Pun began recording songs for his