Voletta Wallace’s Estate Sues Faith Evans Alleging Refusal To Share Profits From Sale Of Notorious B.I.G. Rights
The late Notorious B.I.G.’s estate has filed a lawsuit against Faith Evans.
New York-born rapper Christopher George Latore Wallace, best known as The Notorious B.I.G. and for timeless hits like “Big Poppa” and “Mo Money Mo Problems,” was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1997. His legacy continues to live on, thanks in large part to his mother, Voletta Wallace, who had played a key role in managing his estate before she recently passed away. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, she successfully secured rights to most of his catalog from Bad Boy Records, increasing her ownership of his music from 50% to 85%. The Notorious B.I.G. was originally signed to the label by founder Sean “Diddy” Combs. In 2020, Voletta acquired the remaining 15%, gaining full control of her son’s music catalog.
“Securing control of my son’s publishing and masters was a hard-fought journey, one that was not easy to accomplish,” Voletta explained, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Voletta died at 78 years old in February 2025, and prior to her passing, she agreed to sell Primary Wave a 50% stake in the estate. The deal was reportedly worth $100 million, according to the outlet.
“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,” Primary Wave told Variety.
In a new update, it appears Wayne Barrow, executor of Voletta’s estate and trust, has now filed a lawsuit to retrieve its share of the sale’s funds, Billboard reports. Barrow alleges that R&B artist Faith Evans, widow of The Notorious B.I.G., became the sole owner of Biggie LLC after Voletta’s passing. Therefore, Evans would be responsible to ensure Voletta’s trust was given its portion of the profits from the Primary Wave sale, the lawsuit claims. However, Barrow alleges she has not taken steps to give the trust its split.
“Ms. Evans has distributed sale proceeds to Ty’anna, CJ, (Biggie’s two children) and presumably to herself,” Barrow said, per Billboard. “She, however, has wrongfully withheld the Trust’s [redacted] share of the proceeds, in the amount of [redacted].”
Barrow also claims Evans has not recognized the Voletta Wallace trust as a member of the holding company and says she has left him “entirely in the dark about the business and affairs of the LLC.” Barrow has requested that the court compel Evans to disperse the trust’s proceeds of the Primary Wave sale, which will then be donated to the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation. He is also seeking the removal of Evans as company manager of Biggie LLC and instate him in the role.
“Ms. Evans’s actions are particularly troubling given that, unlike Mr. Barrow, she has never previously been involved in the LLC’s management,” a petition read.
Evans did not provide a comment on the matter at the time of Billboard’s reporting. Primary Wave, which is not accused of any wrongdoing, also had not commented.
