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 estate, announced the settlement on Thursday (January 18). While the terms of the settlement were not made public, Trager revealed that the resolution was between Biggie’s children 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 said 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 iconic photos in Jersey City, NJ, five years before the Towers fell on September 11, 2001.
At the initial filing of the lawsuit in 2019, Biggie’s estate claimed that Modu was illegally licensing the photos for use on such things as shower curtains and NFTs “in complete disregard for BIG’s rights.” (The photographer died in 2021).
The settlement, however, made clear that while Modu’s estate would be allowed to sell physical and digital reprints of the images themselves — such as on posters and framed art — it was not allowed to license them for use on other goods.
Biggie being so iconic is part of the reason why Rick Ross recently named him as part of the Miami rapper’s personal Hip Hop Mount Rushmore.
“Top three? That’s Big, that’s Pac, and that’s Hov,” he said 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 back in 2012, the Biggest Bawse called Biggie “The Greatest MC of All Time.”
“I was inspired by Notorious B.I.G. a lot,” he said at 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.”