The Notorious BIG’s $6 plastic crown sells for ~$600,000 at Sotheby’s Hip-Hop memorabilia auction

Photo: Instagram

As the World Wide Web loses it to my tweet, I had a chance to catch up with entertainment news. It turns out that the plastic crown that The Notorious BIG wore in one of his famous photo shoots just sold for $594,750. On Tuesday, September 15, the crown made famous from the Barron Claiborne photograph doubled its valued price ($300,000). Claiborne told The Post, “Without Biggie, the crown would not be worth [what it is today].” Claiborne only paid $6 for it at a place on Broadway called Gordon’s Novelty.

View this post on Instagram

All hail the King of New York! Tonight during our inaugural Hip Hop auction, one of the most iconic symbols of Hip Hop’s heyday: the crown 👑 worn and signed by Notorious B.I.G. from @barronclaiborne’s iconic 1997 ‘King of New York’ photoshoot for Rap Pages Magazine sold for $600,000. The photograph is one of the most recognizable images in Hip Hop culture and it has endured as the defining portrait of the artist more than 20 years since it was taken. Achieving an overall total of $2 million, the auction was a celebration of the history and cultural impact Hip Hop has had on art and culture from the late 1970s through the “Golden Age” of the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, and up to the present. A majority of items included in the sale were consigned directly from Hip Hop’s most pivotal and well-known artists and figures, several of who will be sharing their proceeds with a variety of charities. A portion of Sotheby’s own proceeds from the sale will benefit the Hip Hop programs at the @qplnyc, as well as @buildingbeats, a non-profit community organization that teaches tech, entrepreneurial and leadership skills to underserved youth through DJ and music programs. #hiphop #hiphopmusic #notoriousbig #biggiesmalls #barronclaiborne #HipHopxSothebys #QPLHipHop

A post shared by Sotheby's (@sothebys) on

Written by Richardine Bartee

Her unprejudiced love for people, the arts, and business have taken her this far. Join Richardine on her journey as she writes history into existence, one article at a time. Richardine is a member of the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs, and a GRAMMY U Mentor. She is the North American Press Agent and US Business Manager for Oxlade; Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

Watch Turkish producer Psychocharmant’s vivid visual for ‘DeathNote (Goodbye 666)’

Watch Nigeria’s young star Bella Shmurda’s visual for ‘Dangbana Orisa’