Faith Evans is an R&B artist, producer and actress who was born in Florida and raised in New Jersey. While working as a backing vocalist, she captured the attention of prominent hip-hop producer Sean Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, who signed her as the first female recording artist of Bad Boy Entertainment in 1994. The record deal led to several iconic LPs, starting with her 1995 debut album Faith, as well as collaborations with peers such as Mary J. Blige. Despite her notoriety as the widower of Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, she stood out in her own right as one of the champions of the Golden Age of Hip-Hop, playing a major role in the East Coast-West Coast rivalry. She made the leap to Capital records in the early 2000s and went on to release her most successful record, 2005's The First Lady. Evans continues to endure as a major hip-hop and R&B figure, even into the 2010s when the classic contemporary style has given way to more processed sounds. After joining her long-time collaborator Puff Daddy and other label-mates on a 20th anniversary reunion tour for Bad Boy Records, she released her seventh studio album, 2017's The King & I.
