The Notorious B.I.G.‘s estate has partnered with publishing company Primary Wave in a deal that will see the company take over a 50 percent interest in the late rapper’s catalog, publishing and publicity rights.
Biggie’s Estate Completes Deal With Primary Wave
On March 20, Primary Wave announced the split acquisition of Biggie’s estate following reports that the business deal was close to being complete last month. The deal, which was put in place by Biggie’s mom, Voletta Wallace, before she passed in February at the age of 78, should open the door for some exciting opportunities. The estate and PW tell the Wall Street Journal that those opportunities include Biggie’s life story being made into a Broadway play as well as “creating immersive music experiences based on his catalog, some using the rapper’s digital avatar.”
Biggie’s estate is reported to be worth $200 million, a massive increase from the $10 million it was estimated at when the rapper was shot and killed at the age of 24 in 1996. Ms. Wallace played a huge role in that increase. She was a producer on the 2009 film biopic Notorious. In 2011, she signed a licensing deal with Brand Sense Partners to manage licensing and merchandising for the Brooklyn native’s name and likeness.
“She trusted no one,” Wayne Barrow, who co-manages Biggie’s estate, told WSJ. “With everything she went through, she wasn’t going to allow her or [her] grandkids to be in a position where what Biggie’s legacy was wasn’t beneficial to them.”
Biggie reportedly died with a standard publishing deal in place that gave him 50 percent ownership of his music catalog, with the other split going to Bad Boy Entertainment. In the early 2000s, Ms. Wallace secured 85 percent ownership, before acquiring the remaining 15 percent in 2020.
Primary Wave’s roster of late entertainer catalogs includes Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Prince, Isaac Hayes and others.