Big Pun
Big Pun, born Christopher Lee Carlos Rios (November 10, 1971–February 7, 2000), was one of the first Puerto Rican rappers to take off in American hip-hop. Based mostly in the Bronx, he released three main albums, only one of which came out before his death. He is noted for having a very direct, clear and commanding delivery along with clever and often intimidating lyrics. Despite being obese (which lead to his demise), he was capable of long, seemingly breathless performances.
Big Pun provides examples of the following tropes:
- Acrofatic: "400 pounds/but I move fast"
- Badass Boastful Rap: Most of his songs.
- The Bible: Despite being a "lapsed" Catholic, some of his tracks have Biblical references.
- Comedic Sociopathy: "Nigga Shit" and "We Don't Care".
- For the Evulz
- Gangsta Rap: Big Pun has a lot of stories about thuggin' in the "South Boogie"
- Horrorcore: Leatherface. He also likes to rap about chainsaw attacks in many of his songs and considers himself "Charles Manson in the flesh".
- Motor Mouth: An excellent example is his famous "Dead in the middle of Little Italy..." line in "Twinz (Deep Cover '98)".
- One of Us: Back before he made it big and was dealing with family problems, he took his aggression out by playing videogames. His favorite was a certain Beat'Em Up in which the President has been kidnapped by ninjas.
- Rags to Riches: Detailed in "The Glamour Life".
- Shout-Out: His stage name to the Marvel Comics character Frank "Punisher" Castle. Lampshaded in a sketch in which children describe Frank as a "7-foot Terminator nigga" and X-Men as "baby stuff holmes".
- Also to Scarface, Kurt Kobain, the film "Casino" and others.
- Signature Song: "Still Not a Player", "Punish Me" and "Twinz (Deep Cover '98)".
- Title-Only Chorus: "Nigga Shit".
- X Meets Y: The Notorious B.I.G. meets Kool G Rap.