Barron Claiborne: Last News

A plastic crown worn by the Notorious B.I.G. three days before his murder has sold for $594,750 in Sotheby’s’ first ever auction of rap memorabilia and artefacts.

The $6 plastic crown that The Notorious B.I.G. donned for his final portrait shoot in 1997 with photographer Barron Claiborne sold for an eye-popping $594,750 at on Tuesday night.The four-time Grammy nominee (born Christopher Wallace) was murdered, age 24, in a drive-by shooting just three days after sitting for the 'King of New York' cover shoot for Rap Pages.The winning bidder, named Emily, received the plastic-jeweled headwear autographed by the Brooklyn rap legend himself along with a 36 x 40 chromogenic print of the image and the original contact sheet.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe $6 plastic crown worn by the Notorious B.I.G. at a photo shoot days before his death was auctioned off for $595,000 on Tuesday at the first-ever Sotheby’s auction focused on hip-hop memorabilia.The crown — which was sold by photographer Barron Claiborne — more than doubled the pre-auction estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.

The Notorious B.I.G.‘s “King of New York” crown and some love letters written by 2Pac are going under the hammer next month.The iconic pieces of music history are just two of 120 items that will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s celebrating the impact of hip-hop.The crown up for auction was worn by Biggie during his last recorded photoshoot just three days before he was shot dead on March 9, 1997.Spawning the “King of New York” picture, as it came to be known, it’s featured on magazine covers, mixtapes, T-shirts, murals and even in Cottonmouth’s headquarters in Netflix‘s Marvel series Luke Cage.The rapper and the photographer Barron Claiborne signed the crown at the time, and Claiborne has kept it in his possession ever since.

Notorious B.I.G. and love letters written by his arch-rival Tupac Shakur are among the main items up for sale at the first major hip-hop auction to be held at an international auction house.Fans of Biggie will get the chance to own the recognisable crown which was worn and signed by the rapper during a 1997 photoshoot, only three days before he was the victim of a fatal drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.It is being offered up by the shoot’s original photographer, Barron Claiborne, but comes with a hefty price tag.