Biggie‘s estate has settled a lawsuit with the estate of the late photographer Chi Modu over some of the most iconic Hip Hop images of the 1990s.
In 1996, Modu photographed the rap icon in front of the World Trade Center towers, taking a series of shots he said were partly inspired by Big’s reference to the buildings in “Juicy.”
Billboard is reporting that Staci Jennifer Trager, who represented The Notorious B.I.G.’s property, introduced the settlement on Thursday (January 18). While the phrases of the settlement weren’t made public, Trager revealed that the decision was between Biggie’s kids and Modu’s widow, all of whom are the executors of the respective estates.
“Pictures of Christopher cannot be commercially exploited without a license from our client,” Trager stated to the outlet. “The settlement agreement is a testament to the dedication of our client as well as our team members in staying the course over several years.”
Modu, who died in 2021, took the long-lasting pictures in Jersey City, NJ, 5 years earlier than the Towers fell on September 11, 2001.
At the preliminary submitting of the lawsuit in 2019, Biggie’s property claimed that Modu was illegally licensing the pictures to be used on things like bathe curtains and NFTs “in complete disregard for BIG’s rights.” (The photographer died in 2021).
The settlement, nonetheless, made clear that whereas Modu’s property could be allowed to promote bodily and digital reprints of the photographs themselves — resembling on posters and framed artwork — it was not allowed to license them to be used on different items.
Biggie being so iconic is a part of the rationale why Rick Ross just lately named him as a part of the Miami rapper’s private Hip Hop Mount Rushmore.
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“Top three? That’s Big, that’s Pac, and that’s Hov,” he stated earlier this month. “And a lot of times, for the youngsters, just know that when you hear the OGs like myself and other n-ggas say those names so commonly, it’s because they had the biggest effect, you know what I’m sayin’?
“These are the n-ggas that we watched get rich,” he continued. “Jay, Puff, that was really the first generation that we watched get rich. Because we’ve seen artists that were hugely successful, but were they extremely wealthy? We’re not sure. Watching Run-DMC, you know, they were extremely successful. Were they widely wealthy, though? We’re not sure.”
And again in 2012, the Biggest Bawse referred to as Biggie “The Greatest MC of All Time.”
“I was inspired by Notorious B.I.G. a lot,” he stated on the time. “Just his demeanor, the way he carried himself. He was just so laid back, he was just so authentic, not to mention he was the greatest MC of all time.”
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