The plastic crown worn by the Notorious B.I.G. for a photo taken days before death sold for $600,000 at Sotheby’s first Hip-Hop sale

A $6 plastic crown worn by the Notorious BIG during a now iconic photoshoot three days before his death sold for $594,750 last night at Sotheby’s in New York, far surpassing it’s $200,000 to $300,000 pre-sale estimate.

The object highlighted the auction house’s inaugural hip-hop sale, an event that featured other historic objects from the genre and its most famous figureheads, including Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” jackets, Fab 5 Freddy’s custom MTV ring, and a set of Public Enemy action figures.

The crown was consigned by Barron Claiborne, the photographer behind Biggie’s “KONY (King of New York)” portrait session for the cover of Rap Pages magazine in 1997. It was accompanied by three prints of the original photo and the contact sheet from the shoot. Sean “Diddy” Combs, owner of the rapper’s record label, Bad Boy Records, opposed the prop saying it made the artist look like “the Burger King.”

Altogether, 91 percent of the lots sold, bringing in a total of $2 million.
Courtesy of Artnet News
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