Christopher Rios -- aka "Big Punisher" hit No. 1 on the hip-hop/R&B charts for this legendary album, Capital Punishment. He also became the first Latino rapper to go platinum. While he did well in school and participated in athletics in his early years, he left home at the age of 15 because of his difficult family life and eventually dropped out of high school. In February 2000, Big Pun and his wife were staying in a hotel when Pun experienced difficulty breathing. He later collapsed and died of heart failure. In his all-too-short career, Big Pun became a breakthrough Latino artist in the world of hip-hop music.
Read more about Big Pun here.
