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Biggie Smalls’ mother, Voletta Wallace, recently passed away. As such, it is understandable that some changes concerning who owns the rights to the late musician’s music would happen. However, it has come as a shock to hip-hop fans to learn that the estate of Biggie Smalls has sold a stake in the late rapper’s music publishing and recordings and particular name, image, and likeness rights to Primary Wave Music.

The terms of the deal were not made public. However, it has been reported that Voletta Wallace signed the agreement shortly before her death. Furthermore, she was supposedly involved in every aspect of the negotiations.

Wallace, who passed away in February, has been in charge of everything concerning her son since his early demise in 1997 and oversaw his estate for the remainder of her life. She was one of the producers of the 2009 Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious and was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the film.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Primary Wave is apparently taking a 50% interest in the estate, which was valued at $200million. Primary Wave released a statement in Variety about the deal, reading, “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 multimillion-dollar company doesn’t just have Biggie Smalls’ material, but their portfolio includes music from the likes of Stevie Nicks, Whitney Houston, The Doors, Bob Marley, James Brown, Nirvana and Prince. Concerning their deal with Voletta Wallace, the company described their 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 and books. Primary Waves has played a part in licensing likenesses for movies depicting Bob Marley and Whitney Houston. The conglomerate is currently involved in biopics about Boyz II Men and Boy George. Both are presently in production.

Most would have thought that Biggie Smalls’ estate would have been managed by his son, Christopher Wallace Jr. However, Voletta Wallace did not desire that, evidently. The rapper’s mother didn’t speak to the press much during her life, and while promoting the 2021 Netflix documentary, Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell, 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.”