*Years after the death of the Notorious B.I.G. the financial futures of his son and daughter are officially secure. According to The Wall Street Journal, B.I.G.’s mother, Voletta Wallace approved a deal with music publisher Primary Wave shortly before her death in February to preserve her son’s musical legacy.
People familiar with the situation detailed the deal, which involved Primary Wave taking a 50% interest in the Notorious B.I.G. estate, which is valued at more than $200 million. The total marks a 10-fold increase from what the estate was worth at the time B.I.G. was killed in a 1997 drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
Through the deal, the estate and Primary Wave are operating with the notion of using he rights to pursue projects that elevate Biggie’s status as a legend. Among those efforts will be taking the lyricist’s story to Broadway and creating immersive music experiences based on his catalog, some using Biggie’s digital avatar.
Sharing thoughts on the deal, Wayne Barrow, Voletta Wallace and Biggie’s co-manager, emphasized his focus on telling the artist’s story right instead of cashing in on his client’s name and notoriety.
Shortly before she died late last month, she approved a deal that will do just that.
Scroll to continue reading
Approving Primary Wave’s alliance with the B.I.G. estate was among Voletta Wallace’s final accomplishments before her passing. Although she did not listen to her son’s music until his death, Wallace made it her life’s work to fight for control of his rights as well as elevating the rap icon’s legacy to secure his children’s respective financial futures.
Prior to working with Primary Wave, Barrow revealed that Wallace spent years navigating the cutthroat world of the music business, where everyone was looking for a piece.
All while grieving the loss of Biggie, who died at age 24 with only two albums under his belt, 1994’s “Ready to Die” and 1997’s “Life After Death,” which came out two weeks after the entertainer’s passing.
The hard lessons learned resulted in a cautious attitude for Wallace when it came to handling her late child’s business.
“She trusted no one,” Barrow said. “With everything she went through, she wasn’t going to allow her or grandkids to be in a position where what Biggie’s legacy was wasn’t beneficial to them.”
Without a will, Voletta Wallace ended up as the co-executor of B.I.G.’s will after the rapper’s wife, singer Faith Evans put her in position to handle the day-to-day business of the estate.
Over the years, the estate has made efforts to put the catalog to work in brand partnerships with heavyweights like Pepsi and Budweiser.
Around what would have been Biggie’s 50th birthday, a new song released by the estate surfaced, containing verses from the Brooklyn, New York City born rhymeslayer’s song “I Love the Dough.” The tune, which featured Jay-Z and Angela Winbush, was from “Life After Death.”
For the new song, Ty Dolla Sign was recruited along with Bella Alubo in a move meant to introduce Biggie to younger audiences.
Despite initial offers of about $1.5 million to $2 million for the life rights to make a movie, according to Barrow, Wallace’s focus was dedicated to humanizing her son.
With that in mind, Wallace and Barrow passed on the deal. Instead, they found their own writer to draft a script and shopped it to studios themselves. The result? Both were producers on Fox Searchlight Pictures’ “Notorious,” a Biggie biopic highlighting Wallace and Barrow as producers. The film, which grossed over $44 million in 2009, was double duty for the pair as the maintained control over the project.
With that experience came years into Wallace’s quest to gain ownership of her son’s music rights from his label, Bad Boy Records, and publisher, in terms of Biggie’s songwriting catalog, or music and lyrics as well a the rhymesayer’s masters, which involve the recordings themselves.
With Primary Wave a part of the estate, things are set to make sure Biggie’s music is secure and handled in the best way. According to the Journal, the estate will join the company on creative decision-making while aiming to scale the business.
Evans said the collaboration will honor and extend Biggie’s legacy. “We look forward to creating new opportunities that highlight the timelessness of his work,” said Evans, who feels the Primary Wave collaboration will honor and extend Biggie’s legacy.
For more on Voletta Wallace and her efforts to preserve the legacy of her son, the Notorious B.I.G., click here.
View this post on Instagram
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: Faith Evans Pays Tribute to Late Voletta Wallace, Mother of Notorious B.I.G.
We Publish News 24/7 – Don’t Miss Out! Sign up for our Free daily newsletter HERE.
