The Hip Hop phenomenon as we know it today began on the streets of Queens, New York in the 1970s, but quickly gained a West Coast element, as well. By its nature a very passionate art form, various personal feuds developed among several popular performers from both camps, with the shared animosity reaching a crescendo in the mid-1990s.

A key figure in East Coast Hip Hop music was “The Notorious B.I.G.” Also known as “Biggie Smalls,” the rapper’s given name was Christopher Wallace. Biggie’s music enjoyed an enthusiastic following from coast to coast, and his talent is generally considered to have demonstrated once-in-a-generation quality in terms of technical skill and stylized expression.

Christopher Wallace traveled to Los Angeles in early 1997, and spent several weeks in that city doing promotional activity for an album and filming a video for its hit single, “Hypnotize.” During this trip, on March 9, 1997, Biggie was shot and killed as he left an awards ceremony. His assailant has never been caught or identified, but inevitable suspicion leads to the conclusion that the then-ongoing and simmering, lyrical rap feud inspired Wallace’s murder. With this tragedy, one of the world’s most talented young musicians was lost forever at the age of 24.

Presented here are five studio contract and memo documents, drawn and executed in 1993 and 1994, bearing significant East Coast Hip Hop signatures – including an impossibly scarce example penned by Biggie using his birth name. These survivors represent key individuals and activities in the lucrative rap music industry’s shifting scene. Three of the items reveal a business connection to Bert Padell (1935-), the “Financial Advisor to the Stars” who provided accounting and legal services to numerous luminaries in the entertainment community, and who in many ways became almost as well-known as his famous clients.

Includes:

Contract – Dated August 19, 1993, Single Page – Signed by Sean “Puff” Combs as, “Sean Combs.” Also signed by Roy Lott and Bert Padell. Known more recently as “Diddy,” Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs was instrumental in promoting the career of The Notorious B.I.G., as well as being an accomplished East Coast rap artist in his own right. This document confirmed an escrow agreement between Arista Records and Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment.

Memo – Dated January 6, 1994, Single Page – Directed to Bert Padell from Arista Records finalizing certain payment details. Signed by Arista Vice President Philip Wild, who betrays a degree of exasperation near the end of his note, in which Wild seems to question the stature and role of Bad Boy Records.

Contract – Dated May 16, 1994, Two Pages – Signed on the second page by “B.I.G.” as, “Christopher Wallace.” Also signed by Andre Harrell for Uptown Records. This document clarified the termination of Wallace’s business relationship with Uptown- and led to his joining with Puffy at Bad Boy records.

Memo – Dated July 26, 1994, Single Page – Directed to Sean Combs from MCA (Uptown Records’ distributor) acknowledging the Wallace termination agreement, signed by a legal assistant for MCA.

Contract Final Page – Undated, Single Page – Signed by Sean “Puff” Combs as, “Sean Combs.” Also signed by Roy Lott and Janice Smalls. This is the concluding page to an unspecified agreement between Combs and Arista Records.

All of these typewritten business items carry clear, robust signatures in blue or black ballpoint; the paper pieces reflect routine wear consistent with handling and filing, and project full legibility throughout. This lot is NINE total pages and includes the Archived collection of documents relating to the creation of the famous BAD BOY record label!! LOA from JSA.

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