Notorious BIG Crown Sells For 100,000 Times What It Cost
โ€” Updated on 15 June 2021

Notorious BIG Crown Sells For 100,000 Times What It Cost

โ€” Updated on 15 June 2021
Garry Lu
WORDS BY
Garry Lu

Sothebyโ€™s recently held its very first hip-hop auction to tremendous success. The headlining item was โ€“ without a doubt โ€“ the famed Notorious BIG crown; the very crown which was worn by the big fella himself (real name: Christopher Wallace) in the now-iconic series of portraits. The newsworthy detail, however, was what it fetched versus its initial value.

The plastic prop was originally purchased at Gordonโ€™s novelty store for US$6. The final sale price? US$594,750. Representing quite a significant return. Whatโ€™s even more amusing is the story behind why the iconic portrait, and by extension this jaw-dropping sale, almost didnโ€™t happen.

According to the Brooklyn-based photographer behind the snap โ€“ Barron Claiborne โ€“ the key objection came from Sean Combs AKA P. Diddy. Combs owned the label Wallace was signed with at the time โ€“ Bad Boy Records โ€“ and believed the Notorious BIG crown would present an image problem.

โ€œHe said it would make Biggie look like Burger King,โ€ Claiborne told the New York Post.

โ€œBut Biggie didnโ€™t listen. He wore it anyway. And nobodyโ€™s ever told me that they look at the photo and think the crown is plasticโ€ฆ His power cancels out the fact that it is a novelty crown โ€“ without Biggie, the crown would not be worth [six figures].โ€

The photoshoot occurred three days before the Notorious BIGโ€™s death.

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Garry Lu
WORDS by
After stretching his legs with companies such as The Motley Fool and the odd marketing agency, Garry joined Boss Hunting in 2019 as a fully-fledged Content Specialist. In 2021, he was promoted to News Editor. Garry proudly retains a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black bruises from Muay Thai, as well as a black belt in all things pop culture. Drop him a line at [email protected]

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