The Notorious B.I.G.’s estate sells rights to late rapper’s music

The estate of The Notorious B.I.G. has sold a stake in the late rapper’s music publishing and recordings and certain name, image, and likeness rights to Primary Wave Music.

• READ MORE: The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Ready To Die’ at 25: 9 surprising things about the era-defining album

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (March 20) that Biggie Smalls’ mother, Voletta Wallace, had reached the deal with Primary Wave shortly before her death earlier this year, with sources saying she was involved in nearly every aspect of the negotiations.

Wallace, who passed away in February, had been instrumental in carrying on her son’s legacy and overseeing his estate, following his murder at the age of 24 on March 9, 1997. She established the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation and was a producer on the 2009 biopic Notorious, directed by George Tillman Jr. and starring Jamal Woolard, and was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the film.

Per the WSJ, Primary Wave is taking a 50 per cent interest in the estate, which was valued at $200million. It was also reported that the Brooklyn rapper had a standard publishing deal with Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy company, which gave him a 50 per cent interest in his songwriting catalogue at the time of his death.

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As the estate was doing most of the heavy lifting when it came to making deals and monetising the music, Wallace later convinced Combs to raise the estate’s stake to 85 per cent in the early aughts and acquired the remaining 15 per cent in 2020.

“The estate and Primary Wave will collaborate on all business moving forward in an effort to continue the incredible and innovative work done thus far with one goal in mind, to keep the legacy of the Notorious B.I.G. alive,” the company said in a statement (via Variety).

Primary Wave’s portfolio of songs includes material by Stevie Nicks, Whitney Houston, The Doors, Bob Marley, James Brown, Nirvana and Prince. The company and estate described their business relationship as a “panoramic partnership that [would] encompass The Notorious B.I.G.’s music publishing and recordings, as well as his name, image and likeness.”

Notably, name, image and likeness rights are needed to license an artist’s work for films. Known for its role in licensing music for biopics, such as Bob Marley: One Love and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Primary Wave is currently involved in biopics about Boyz II Men and Boy George, both of which are currently in production.

Wallace published her memoir Biggie in 2005, and in 2021 she worked as an executive producer on the Netflix documentary Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell. When promoting that film, she told the Associated Press: “They never knew me. The public never knew me. I was thrust into this environment, I should say, after he passed away, because I’m a very private person. Extremely private.”

“What he was doing out there, maybe I should have known. But honestly, I didn’t. And to this day, there are people who are saying, ’Oh, she knew. [whispers] But I never knew.”

She spoke of her joy at Biggie’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2020. “Brooklyn we did it!!! This is so long overdue,” she wrote. “Thank you to everyone that helped make this happen for Christopher. Love you all.”

Wallace also was outspoken about the allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in 2024, telling Rolling Stone: “I’m sick to my stomach. I’m praying for his mother. I don’t want to believe the things that I’ve heard, but I’ve seen [the video]. I pray that he apologises to her.”

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