Biggie Smalls’ mom, Voletta Wallace, dead at 78

Voletta Wallace, the mother of late rapper Biggie Smalls, is dead at 78.

Wallace, who raised her son Christopher Wallace in Brooklyn, died of natural causes Friday in Stroudsburg, Penn., according to the Monroe County Coroner Thomas A. Yanac. She was in hospice care.

Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., was shot to death in Los Angeles in March 1997. He was 24.

Billboard rates his 1997 album “The Notorious BIG, Life After Death” among the greatest rap albums of all time.

Smalls shot to hip-hop stardom with his 1994 album “Ready to Die” on Bad Boys Records and enjoyed a close friendship with Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Voletta Wallace took over her son’s estate when it was worth $10 million and oversaw its growth to $160 million, TMZ reported.