Investigators following new leads into murder of hip hop icon Christopher 'Biggie Smalls' Wallace

LOS ANGELES - Investigators have beefed up their investigation into the 1997 murder of hip hop icon Biggie Smalls.

Citing two sources familiar with the investigation, CNN reports a task force made up of local and federal authorities are following up on new information.

One source told CNN the new details were uncovered several months, but would not elaborate because of the active investigation that includes the Los Angeles Police Department, the LA County District Attorney's office and the FBI. 

Biggie – real name Christopher Wallace – was gunned down in Los Angeles while riding in a Chevrolet Suburban after a music industry party on March 9, 1997.

According to police, a lone gunman, described by witnesses as a black male in a suit and bow tie, pulled up in a Chevrolet Impala and opened fire on Biggie’s vehicle, where he was sitting in the passenger seat.

One of the most prevalent theories in the homicide has been what was an ongoing feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers, which centered around Bad Boy Records (New York) and Death Row Records (Los Angeles).

Biggie and owner Sean “Puffy” Combs were the face of Bad Boy, both having very public battles with Death Row owner Suge Knight and his top performer Tupac Shakur, who was gunned down six months before Biggie.

Tupac’s murder also remains unsolved.

Russell Poole, a retired Los Angeles detective, told CNN he believes Knight, despite the fact he was serving time on a probation violation at the time of Biggie’s murder, was behind it.

"Suge Knight ordered the hit," he said. He also believes then-head of security for Death Row Reggie Wright Jr., arranged the murder.

Knight and Wright have both denied any involvement in the case.

Poole says he retired early from the LAPD in part because he was thwarted from following leads into Biggie’s murder involving police officers who worked off-duty for Death Row Records.

Bernard Parks was the chief of police in Los Angeles at the time of the murder, and serves as a city councilman now. He told CNN any accusations about a police cover-up are "absurd."

“We would have never ignored a lead that could have helped us solve that murder," Parks said.