Credit: Alamy

Biggie Smalls‘ estate is finalising a deal to sell the late rapper’s catalogue. Primary Wave, a privately held music publishing and talent management company, are reportedly closing in on ownership for a fee of up to $150million.

Publishing rights are being discussed for $100million, while master rights are slightly higher for an additional $30 to $50million. Both include publicity rights, covering Biggie’s birth name, Christopher Wallace, as well as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls and Biggie for short. The right also includes his image, voice and key verses in lyrics.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, master rights include recorded works rather than compositions covered under the publishing umbrella. The deal contains 50% of publishing and master rights, including publicity rights. A source claims the transaction price will be in the region of eight figures and is expected to close in March.

ByStorm Entertainment co-founders Mark Pitts and Wayne Barrow represent Biggie’s estate, having crossed paths with Biggie at Bad Boy Records after Pitts interned for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. He co-managed Biggie and Faith Evans and was the executive producer of classic albums Ready to Die and Life After Death.

The news comes shortly after Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, died on February 23rd at the age of 78. Voletta oversaw his estate, taking his net worth from $10million to $160million. Voletta found a connection to Biggie through his music and turned his estate into a success story, keeping his legacy alive and thriving as a business.

“After his passing, I heard a lot of positive and negative things that were being said about him. As a mother, I only wanted to hear positive things because I’m biased,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I decided then I wanted to know more about his music. I read something in a magazine about him where the writer said something like, ‘What do people expect when you give a bum from the ghetto a million dollars?'”

She continued, “I was very hurt by that. I never raised my son to be a bum or a drug dealer. So I listened to his music and I asked a lot of questions. I cried like a baby while listening because what I heard was an intelligent human being.”