Big Pun was only 26 years old when he became the first Latino rapper to go platinum. He was dead by 28.

Born Christopher Rios, the Bronx-native bum rushed rap radio in the '90s with tongue-twisting lyrics and a razor-sharp flow. Bigger than life in every sense, the Nuyorican MC made a star turn on the 1996 Beatnuts classic Off The Books. A year later, Big Pun released his debut single, the X-rated I'm Not a Player. The streets were buzzing about a "Latino Notorious B.I.G." and his follow-up single did not disappoint. The racy Still Not a Player helped his 1998 debut album, Capital Punishment, go double platinum.

But by 2000, Big Pun's battle with obesity was making more headlines than his music. In a span of just two years, he went from 400 to just over 600 pounds. Fellow Terror Squad member and close friend Fat Joe recalls how Big Pun struggled with his weight for over a decade: "For a long time, even though he was a big guy, he could do whatever he wanted… [a]s time went on, however, his health got worse." Big Pun, who often had trouble breathing during interviews, weighed nearly 700 pounds when he died of heart failure.

Rios was survived by his wife and three children. His second album, Yeah Baby, was released two months after his death. It also went platinum.