On August 8, 1993, Jan Jackson, Wallace's long-time girlfriend, gave birth to his first child, T'yanna,

[28]
although the couple had parted by then.[29] Himself a high-school dropout, Wallace promised his
daughter "everything she wanted", reasoning that if only he had that in childhood, he would have
graduated at the top of his class.[30] Wallace continued dealing drugs, but Combs discovered this, and
obliged him to stop.[19] Later that year, Wallace gained exposure on a remix of Mary J. Blige's single
"Real Love". Having found his moniker Biggie Smalls already claimed, he took a new one, holding
for good, The Notorious B.I.G.[31]

Around this time, Wallace became friends with fellow rapper Tupac Shakur. Lil' Cease recalled the
pair as close, often traveling together whenever they were not working. According to him, Wallace
was a frequent guest at Shakur's home and they spent time together when Shakur was in California
or Washington, D.C.[32] Yukmouth, an Oakland emcee, claimed that Wallace's style was inspired by
Shakur.[33]

The "Real Love" remix single was followed by another remix of a Mary J. Blige song, "What's the
411?" Wallace's successes continued, if to a lesser extent, on remixes of Neneh Cherry's song
"Buddy X" and of reggae artist Super Cat's song "Dolly My Baby", also featuring Combs, all in 1993.
In April, Wallace's solo track "Party and Bullshit" was released on the Who's the Man? soundtrack.
[34]
In July 1994, he appeared alongside LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes on a remix of his own
labelmate Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear", the remix reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100