Long before he became the iconic rap legend struck down in his prime, The Notorious B.I.G. was born Christopher Wallace in May of 1972. Though Biggie’s time on this Earth was short, he is survived by his two children, and a nearly-impeccable body of work which calls to hip hop heads young and old to this day. By now, the East Coast gangsta rap founder has been gone for over 27 years, though his estate’s net worth has continued to grow exponentially, allowing Biggie’s children to live the comfortable lives their father always dreamed of for them.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Biggie Smalls had an estate that was worth $10 million at the time of his passing in 1997 — but under the exacting control of the rapper’s mother, Ms. Voletta Wallace, the value has ballooned to a whopping $160 million as of 2021. The estate is managed by Wallace in accordance with Biggie’s widow, Faith Evans, as well as a team of lawyers which include merchandising manager Wayne Barrow. This has helped fulfill Biggie’s promise of making sure his children had anything and everything they could have ever wanted.
The Notorious B.I.G.’s Lasting Legacy
On March 9, 2022, Complex announced that the estate of The Notorious B.I.G. dropped its first-ever NFT collection featuring the late, great iconic rapper. The proceeds from the sales of the NFTs will go to the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation, and the estate partnered with the omnipresent Web3 company OneOf to release the NFT collection.
“We are excited about our partnership with OneOf and their expertise to memorialize my son Christopher with this first official NFT drop to give his fans an opportunity to participate in and honor their love of him and his music,” said Voletta Wallace, the rapper’s mother, in a statement to the outlet.
While NFT’s seem to have mostly come and go at this point, it still seems fitting that Biggie Smalls — and his legacy — have moved into the 21st century. Though only 24-years-old at the time of his tragic passing, the Brooklyn native made music that was both eerily prescient and ahead of its time. There isn’t a person who grew up during the height of 1990s gangsta rap glory that can’t drop at least one Biggie verse purely from memory. Obviously this legacy — and cultural impact — continue to be felt today.
With two children now well into adulthood, The Notorious B.I.G.’s financial backing has become generational wealth, assisting in providing Biggie’s two kids with a much better life than he ever could have hoped for.Here’s how his two wonderful adult children are honoring their father’s impressive legacy.
Editorial note: The net worth listed in this piece is a speculative estimate drawn from a variety of online sources. This piece was also updated to reflect some new information released in April, 2024.
T'yanna Wallace
Born in 1993, T’yanna Wallace was referenced in one of her father’s biggest hits, “Juicy.” In the opening moments of the record, the drums provide a rhythmic thump, as Biggie states “This album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me I’d never amount to nothin’, to all the people that lived above the buildings that I was hustlin’ in front of who called the police on me when I was just tryin’ to make some money to feed my daughter.”
T’yanna even appeared in the “Juicy” music video as a baby, and has since gone on to hone a career as an influencer and Internet personality.
In 2014, T’yanna told KABC-TV that though she inherited a lot of money from her father’s estate, she doesn’t rely on it to get her through life. Instead, she said, she chose to study business at Penn State and wanted to make her own way in the world.
Ultimately, she graduated from Penn State with a degree in business, and later launched a wide array of business ventures. One of T’yanna’s first ventures was a clothing store called Notoriouss, which sold shirts and other merch emblazoned with images and quotes from her iconic father.
T’yanna also recently launched The Biggie Museum, which allows members of the pubic to explore an intimate portrayal of the late rapper’s life. The Biggie experience opened in March of 2024 in Brooklyn, not far from where her father grew up, and featured an exclusive opening event sponsored by Belaire Gold champagne.
Clearly, T’yanna’s status as a beneficiary of Biggie’s wealth has not passed her by, as she has utilized the tools of her upbringing to carve out an impressive path for herself in the world.
Additionally, T’yanna appears to have two children, per her posts on Instagram. While little is known about Biggie’s next-generation family, the two girls are named Thailah & Skylar, and appear to be very young in age.
Christopher Wallace Jr. (aka CJ)
Christopher George Latore Wallace Jr. (aka “CJ”) was born in 1996, less than one year before his father was killed. His mother is R&B superstar Faith Evans, who was Biggie’s wife at the time of his passing.
Like his sister, CJ has utilized the tools of his father’s legacy to embark upon bold new journeys. Though, unlike T’yanna, CJ has chosen to explore the creative arts, and has taken on numerous roles as a screen actor.
CJ’s big break came in the 2009 film “Notorious,” a biopic about his father’s life. Per his IMDb page, he played a younger version of his father. In 2019, Entertainment Weekly revealed that CJ would be joining other celebrity scions — including Paris Jackson, daughter of the legendary Michael — in the reboot of the “Scream” franchise.
Since then, CJ has appeared in a number of film and television ventures, with his most recent project being the 2019 movie “Like Blood.”
In 2022, CJ revealed to People that he’s getting into the CBD space. The label, which is called Frank White (named after one of Biggie’s aliases), sends its proceeds to the Think BIG initiative, which “advocates for equitable cannabis legalization, criminal justice reform and economic reinvestment into communities most harmed by the war on drugs,” per People.
Both of Biggie’s children were present during the 2020 ceremony which saw the rapper inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The event concluded with a segment headed by CJ and T’yanna, with CJ stating in a speech“Our father was one of the founding fathers of hip-hop. He helped revolutionize what was a young art form for the Black community and the world. I’m honored to share his name and his dedication to Black music, creativity, self-expression, and Black freedom.”
Bernadette Giacomazzo
Bernadette Giacomazzo is the SEO Manager at Blavity, Inc. She is also a NYC-based editor, writer, photographer, and publicist with a career spanning more than two decades in the entertainment industry. Her work has been featured in People, Teen Vogue, BET, HipHopDX, XXL Magazine, The Source, Vibe, The Los Angeles Times, and more. Giacomazzo is also the author of The Uprising Series and is the CEO of G-Force Marketing & Publicity, which has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter and has obtained film, television, radio, and print placements for blue-chip clients all over the world. She will release "In Living Color: A Cultural History" on Rowman & Littlefield Press in February 2023, and "The Golden Girls: A Cultural History" on Rowman & Littlefield Press in August 2023.
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