Judge Says Biggie’s Mother’s Trust Is Owed $12.5 Million in Faith Evans Estate Dispute

The Notorious B.I.G. and Faith Evans are pictured on the cover of Tymaz's 2021 single “Biggie With The Faith Freestyle.” A Delaware judge has ruled that a trust established by the late rapper's mother, Voletta Wallace, is entitled to more than $12.5 million in distributions from the company Evans manages to oversee his intellectual property. 

The Notorious B.I.G. warned against mixing family and business. Nearly three decades after his death, a
Delaware judge has invoked that advice while presiding over a multimillion-dollar dispute involving his widow, his children and his late mother's share of his music empire.

The latest ruling gives a trust established by Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace, the right to more than $12.5 million in company distributions, plus interest, rejecting an attempt to limit the amount to about $48,600.

Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled Tuesday that the Voletta Wallace Revocable Trust is entitled to $12,518,336 attributable to Wallace's ownership interest in Notorious B.I.G., LLC.

FROM THE COURT RECORD

Read the Delaware judge's rulings in the dispute over the late Voletta Wallace's ownership interest in Notorious B.I.G., LLC.

Oct. 27, 2026: $12.5 million distribution ruling (PDF)6 pages · Delaware Court of Chancery

Aug. 7, 2026: Original memorandum opinion (PDF)16 pages · Delaware Court of Chancery

The company, formed in 2007 by Wallace and singer Faith Evans, manages intellectual property associated with the late rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace.

Evans, Biggie's widow, became the company's sole manager after his mother died Feb. 21, 2025.

At the heart of the dispute is a distinction between when the trust formally became a member of the company and when it acquired the right to receive money.

The trust did not complete its admission as a member until Dec. 12, 2025. Evans and the company argued that it was entitled to only $48,612 in distributions associated with that later period.

But McCormick ruled that Wallace's economic rights transferred to her estate when she died and subsequently passed to the trust under her will.

That meant the trust's right to the money began months before its formal admission to the company.

The judge also awarded prejudgment interest at the statutory rate, compounded quarterly, beginning when the distributions became payable.

Court filings show that Wallace and Evans originally held equal ownership stakes in the company. A 2023 agreement gave each of Biggie's children, T'yanna Wallace and Christopher Jordan Wallace, rights to 25% of distributions, leaving Evans and Voletta Wallace with 25% apiece.

The dispute intensified after Voletta Wallace changed her estate documents Feb. 6, 2025, just 15 days before her death.

The changes removed her grandson Christopher Jordan Wallace and another previously designated successor from trustee and executor positions, leaving longtime Biggie associate Wayne Barrow as sole trustee and executor.

Barrow subsequently sought to establish the trust's rights in the company. Evans disputed its membership status and withheld distributions pending verification.

In August, McCormick granted Barrow's request for partial summary judgment, rejecting the company's opposing interpretation of its operating agreement.

The judge opened that earlier opinion with a reference to Biggie's 1997 song “Ten Crack Commandments,” citing his advice to keep family and business separate.

Tuesday's ruling settles the remaining questions over the trust's membership date and the distributions owed to it.

Evans and the company had pointed to a separate Pennsylvania proceeding in which her son, Christopher Jordan Wallace, is challenging Barrow's authority to administer his grandmother's estate.

They proposed placing disputed funds with the Delaware court while that challenge continued.

McCormick rejected the proposal, finding that the Pennsylvania dispute does not prevent the trust from receiving the distributions to which it is entitled.

The ruling concerns money attributable to Wallace's interest in Notorious B.I.G., LLC. It does not establish that Evans is personally liable for the entire amount.

The judge instructed Barrow's attorneys to submit a final proposed order within 20 days.

Drake at Center of Two Dismissed Lawsuits Involving Song Theft, Streaming Fraud Claims

Drake appears in a scene from the official music video for “Janice STFU.” A songwriter who accused the rapper of copying the song's chorus has withdrawn his federal copyright lawsuit. The dismissal came four days after a judge rejected a separate lawsuit alleging Spotify allowed fraudulent streams of Drake's music. (Drake/YouTube)

Two Drake-related legal disputes have ended in federal court within four days, derailing a copyright claim over one of his biggest hits and a lawsuit accusing Spotify of allowing bots to inflate billions of streams of his music.

Neither case produced a ruling on whether the underlying allegations were true. And while Drake was a defendant in the copyright case, he was never sued in the Spotify dispute.

The latest development came Tuesday, when songwriter and producer Aviel Calev Hirschfield withdrew his lawsuit accusing Drake of stealing the chorus of “Janice STFU,” the chart-topping single from his “Iceman” album.

Hirschfield filed the case Oct. 16 against Drake, OVO Sound and two Universal Music companies. Eleven days later, his attorneys submitted a two-page notice dismissing the entire action without prejudice.

The filing offered no explanation. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, Hirschfield remains free to bring the claims again.

The producer, who shares a songwriting credit with Drake on Beyoncé's “Heated,” alleged that he recorded the chorus in January over an instrumental supplied by producers FnZ, then sent it to people in Drake's circle.

READ THE COURT RECORDS

Two unrelated federal cases involving Drake's music ended four days apart. Read the filings behind the rulings.

Copyright case: Notice of dismissal (PDF)Oct. 27, 2026 | 2 pages

Spotify case: Federal judge's order (PDF)Oct. 23, 2026 | 16 pages

Hirschfield said he was stunned when the song was released in May and he heard what he believed was his work, performed without credit or compensation.

His complaint described the similarities as nearly exact. A recording purported to be his original demo later circulated online, with his legal representative confirming to Pitchfork that it matched an exhibit in the case.

Questions about the recording's origins and timeline followed. Hirschfield's representatives maintained that experts had examined the recording's metadata and found it legitimate.

Drake's representatives rejected the accusations, calling them a “manufactured and baseless attempt” to exploit his name. They maintained that Drake wrote the song and had no connection to Hirschfield.

The case ended before a court could examine the competing accounts.

The other dismissal came Friday in a separate lawsuit filed by West Coast rapper RBX, whose real name is Eric Dwayne Collins.

The Death Row Records veteran had accused Spotify of failing to stop artificial streaming that he alleged diverted royalties from legitimate rights holders.

Drake's official video for "Janice STFU," released May 15, 2026. (Drake/YouTube)

His complaint singled out Drake's catalog, alleging that a substantial portion of approximately 37 billion Spotify streams over a 48-month period was generated by automated accounts.

RBX estimated that streaming fraud had diverted at least $600 million in royalties from music rights holders. Those figures were allegations, not findings by the court, and Drake was not named as a defendant.

The case challenged Spotify's royalty system, which distributes revenue according to each recording's share of streams. Under that arrangement, artificially inflated numbers for one artist could reduce the share available to others.

But U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton found that RBX had failed to establish the legal grounds necessary to hold Spotify responsible.

The judge ruled that the commercial relationship between the rapper and streaming company did not create the special duty of protection necessary for his negligence claim.

She also rejected his arguments that Spotify deceptively or unfairly enforced its anti-fraud policies. RBX had not identified a specific rule that Spotify applied selectively, the judge found, or established the consumer or competitor harm necessary to support his claims under California law.

Staton had dismissed the lawsuit once before, in June, while allowing RBX to revise his complaint. This time, she concluded another amendment would be futile and dismissed the claims with prejudice.

The ruling prevents RBX from simply refiling the same claims in that court, although an appeal remains possible.

“We are reviewing the order, but an appeal is likely,” attorney Mark Pifko told Rolling Stone.

Spotify has denied benefiting from fraudulent streaming and says it uses detection systems, royalty withholding and financial penalties to combat the practice.

The ruling did not determine whether any of Drake's streams were fraudulent.

Jay-Z Confirms Super Bowl Halftime Performance, Ending Week of Speculation

Jay-Z appears in a promotional video announcing him as the headliner of the Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show, scheduled for Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. (Screen grab/Roc Nation and Apple Music)

Jay-Z has spent seven years helping decide who takes the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show. Next February, he'll be the one standing on it.

The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Monday night that the Brooklyn rap mogul will headline Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

The announcement came during ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast, confirming reports that Jay-Z, whose company has helped oversee the halftime show since 2019, had chosen himself for one of music's biggest stages.

It also marked a significant change of heart.

When Jay-Z entered into his partnership with the NFL seven years ago, he said he had made clear to Commissioner Roger Goodell that performing at the Super Bowl was not the reason for the deal.

Now, after years of helping bring hip-hop and R&B's biggest names to the field, he's taking his own turn.

The announcement arrived in a black-and-white promotional video featuring Jay-Z, set to his 2003 track "Public Service Announcement." The words "GOAT's out of the bag" appeared as the rapper was revealed as the headliner.

Watch Roc Nation's official JAY-Z Super Bowl halftime announcement

Roc Nation and Apple Music announced JAY-Z as the Super Bowl LXI halftime headliner Monday.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Jay-Z reflected on the distance between his 1996 debut, "Reasonable Doubt," and the Super Bowl stage.

"This run continues to be a dream come true," he said.

The timing carries its own significance.

Just two days earlier, Jay-Z closed his JAY-Z 30 concert series at SoFi Stadium, the same venue where he'll perform at halftime. The anniversary run celebrated 30 years of "Reasonable Doubt" and 25 years of his landmark 2001 album, "The Blueprint."

His two-night Los Angeles finale featured a guest list that underscored the reach of his catalog and his standing in hip-hop.

Scarface, John Legend and DJ Khaled joined him during Friday's show, while his daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, appeared at the piano. Saturday's finale brought out Too $hort, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Those appearances offered a reminder of the musical relationships Jay-Z could draw upon in February, although no Super Bowl guests have been announced.

There is a certain symmetry to his return to SoFi Stadium.

The venue hosted the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show, when Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar delivered a landmark performance centered on hip-hop and R&B.

That show was among the most visible examples of the direction the NFL's halftime entertainment has taken since Roc Nation entered the picture.

The partnership was controversial when it began in 2019, coming amid criticism of the NFL's treatment of Colin Kaepernick and player protests over racial injustice.

Jay-Z argued at the time that the agreement could provide opportunities for both entertainment and social change. His company went on to help shape halftime performances by artists including The Weeknd, Rihanna, Usher, Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny.

The question of whether Jay-Z would eventually headline the show himself never entirely disappeared.

Last week, Puck reported that he had selected himself for the 2027 performance. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell declined to confirm the report during the league's fall meetings.

Monday's announcement settled the question.

For Jay-Z, 56, the performance extends a year devoted to revisiting his musical legacy. Along with the anniversary concerts, an eight-part documentary series has explored the songs and recordings that established him as one of hip-hop's defining figures.

He has not released a solo studio album since 2017's "4:44," but his influence over the industry — and particularly the Super Bowl — has continued to grow.

His wife, Beyoncé, headlined the halftime show in 2013 and returned as a guest during Coldplay's performance in 2016.

Jay-Z will follow Bad Bunny, who headlined the 2026 show.

For years, Jay-Z has helped decide what the world would hear at halftime.

This time, the catalog is his.