On March 8, 1997, the world's number-one rapper, Notorious B.I.G. (real name: Christopher Wallace), presented an award to Toni Braxton at the 11th Annual Soul Train Awards in Los Angeles, where several members of the audience booed him. He then headed to the nearby Peterson Automotive Museum for an after-party, which the fire department shut down due to overcrowding. B.I.G. and his entourage left in a three-car motorcade at around 12:30 a.m. Sean (then "Puffy," now " Diddy") Combs, president of Biggie's label Bad Boy Records, was in the first car flanked by three bodyguards. B.I.G. sat in the passenger seat of the second Suburban, joined by two associates and his cousin. Behind Biggie's car was a Chevrolet Blazer, carrying Bad Boy's director of security.

At 12:45 a.m., when people were flooding the streets after leaving the party, the motorcade approached a red light about 50 yards from the museum. Combs' car sped through the light, while the other two vehicles stopped. A black Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up to the passenger side of Biggie's vehicle and an African-American male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie fired approximately six shots into the passenger side door of the truck, four of which hit Notorious B.I.G. in the chest. He was rushed to Cedar Sinai Hospital, and pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m.

It took the Los Angeles Police Department an entire month before assigning the case from the local police department to the Robbery and Homicide Division of the LAPD—a more elite task force that deals with high-profile murders. Then, the LAPD was accused of corruption in the handling of Biggie's murder case—several officers were investigated in connection with the murder, along with Death Row Records honcho, Suge Knight—reportedly as alleged retaliation for the murder of Death Row rapper Tupac Shakur, who was killed in a similar fashion six months before B.I.G.'s murder. Knight has repeatedly said he had nothing to do with Biggie's shooting. Biggie's mother, Voletta, brought a $400 million wrongful death claim against the LAPD/City of Los Angeles, but the case was dismissed. The investigation was closed after the LAPD and FBI dismissed information allegedly implicating two key suspects, despite suggestions of a treasure trove of evidence against them.

In January, however, four years after the investigation was closed, there was a major breakthrough in the case and the FBI reopened it. Below are the top 10 most shocking revelations from the recently released— and heavily redacted—FBI files on Biggie's murder.

1. IF THE CAR FITS…

LAPD Officer David A. Mack, a suspect in the case, allegedly drove a 1995 black Chevrolet Impala SS with chrome wheels—matching the description of the shooter's car. When police searched his home, they reportedly found a shrine to Tupac Shakur in his garage, five 9mm guns—the same type of weapon used to kill Biggie—and a stash of Gecko 9mm ammunition (also the same type used to kill the victim). Gecko 9mm ammunition, a metal-piercing bullet, is manufactured in Europe and rarely used in the U.S. Mack was reportedly suspected of being a Mob Piru Blood gang member with ties to Death Row Records. However, according to FBI files, Mack allegedly "thwarted the murder investigation" when several other LAPD officers "began to show up as potentially being involved." Mack was released from prison on May 14, 2010, after serving a 14-year prison sentence for robbing $722,000 from a South Central Los Angeles branch of Bank of America. He has denied any involvement in Biggie Smalls's murder.

2. THE REAL REASON BIGGIE WAS "GOING BACK TO CALI"

In April 2004, an informant claimed Tupac Shakur stated, "the west coast is [Shakur's] and that if 'Biggie,' who use to be a friend of Tupac's, ever comes out to the west coast, he will be gunned down." The informant also alleged that everything about the East Coast/West Coast rivalry was true, including that Tupac slept with Biggie's estranged wife, Faith Evans, and that Biggie had Tupac shot in New York. Evans has repeatedly denied having a sexual relationship with Tupac. At one point, the informant also claimed Tupac and his entourage approached a location where B.I.G. and his entourage were hanging out, bearing guns. The informant said they were told "not to shoot him," prompting Tupac to tell Biggie that if he ever came back to California, "he would be killed." The informant then attested that B.