The Notorious B.I.G: estate of the late hip-hop legend sells his music for undisclosed fee

• The works of The Notorious B.I.G have been sold in a deal to Primary Wave Music.
• The company has invested a 50% stake in the estate, after a deal was reach by the late Voletta Wallace.
• The mother of the late Christopher Wallace died earlier this year shortly after a deal was negotiated.

The musical legacy of one of hip-hop’s greatest talents is now in a new set of hands, after it was announced the rights to The Notorious B.I.G have been sold.

In a post by the Wall Street Journal overnight (March 20 2025), details were revealed that the music publishing and recordings, image and likeness rights were sold to Primary Wave Music.

In a statement by the music group, they said: “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.

The move comes after an initial deal was made by the rapper’s late mother, Voletta Wallace, with sources telling the WSJ that she was involved in nearly every aspect of the negotiations; Voletta died on February 21 2025.

According to the report, Primary Wave will be taking a 50 per cent interest in the estate, valued at around $200million (£154million), with a prior publishing deal the rapper had with Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Company giving them 50 per cent interest in his song-writing catalogue at the time of his death.

Voletta worked a deal with Combs to raise the estate’s stake to 85% in the early 2000s, due to what they felt was undertaking most of the ‘heavy lifting’ in bringing new deals to the table and monetizing Wallace’s music.

The estate took full control of the rights in 2020 after acquiring the remaining 15%, with Voletta also expanding the rights in her son’s sound recordings in 2023 after negotiations with Bad Boy and their distributor, Warner Music Group.

Though details how much the deal went through for has yet to be revealed as of writing, it still might not reach the heights that the current holder of the most lucrative sale has; that honour belongs to Queen, after Sony Music acquired their catalogue and a number of other rights for a reported sum of $1.27billion in 2024 (£989million.)

Do you think that more musicians selling their rights will continue to be a trend, or do you think that artists might start to hold their own rights rather than licensing them? Let us know your thoughts on music rights deals by leaving a comment down below.