Christopher “C.J.” Wallace Jr., son of late rap icon The Notorious B.I.G., is now fighting over his father’s legacy.
The entrepreneur was just four months old when a gunman killed his 24-year-old father in March 1997.
Now 29, C.J. has become entangled in a new legal battle over assets tied to his late grandmother, Voletta Wallace.
Biggie’s mother passed away on Feb. 21, 2025, at the age of 78.
Now, court documents recently filed in Pennsylvania show her grandson, C.J., challenging a 2025 addendum to her will.
Under her original 2020 will, Voletta reportedly bequeathed her personal property. She left jewelry, furs, music awards and a home in Jamaica to C.J. and his 33-year-old sister, T’yanna Wallace.
The will also reportedly gives her foundation a 50% stake in the management company for Christopher Wallace’s estate.
Voletta managed Notorious B.I.G. LLC with her son’s widow, R&B singer Faith Evans, until her death. It has now been discovered that she amended her will on Feb. 6, 2025, just 15 days before she died.
She transferred the estate from herself to Biggie’s former manager, Wayne Barrow, who is now executor.
As reported by TMZ, C.J.’s lawsuit contends that his grandmother was bedridden and in declining health during her final days, while taking multiple medications.
He also alleges that Voletta’s signatures on the amendment are “inconsistent.” He is asking a judge to invalidate the changes and remove Wayne Barrow as executor.
Barrow, 61, is a longtime music executive who began co-managing The Notorious B.I.G. in the early 1990s after his cousin and business partner, Mark Pitts, introduced them.
After a gunman killed the “Ready to Die” rapper in a March 9, 1997, Los Angeles drive-by shooting, Barrow helped the Wallace family plan his funeral.
Barrow also received a producer credit on the 2009 “Notorious” biopic alongside Voletta. That George Tillman Jr.-directed film chronicled the rise of the Brooklyn emcee.
Despite Wallace’s longstanding connection to The Notorious B.I.G. and his mother, C.J. argues Barrow should not have authority over Voletta’s trust and estate.
The court of public opinion currently seems to be siding with the Junior M.A.F.I.A frontman’s son. Fans flooded social media with reactions to the news that C.J. is suing Barrow.
“Sounds like shady business,” one person on Instagram speculated. “I can’t imagine she’d want to cut her grandkids out of her will and definitely wasn’t a thought in her final days.”
A second person offered, “I don’t believe his grandmother would sign over anything to anyone but her grands. I don’t believe she was in her right state of mind and may have signed something that she wasn’t aware of.”
“Wayne definitely did what B.I.G.’s son claims he did. Him randomly becoming executor is odd,” read another comment.
Barrow caught more heat when someone declared, “That’s foul.” Other commenters called the ongoing legal drama over Voletta’s will “a shame,” “terrible,” and “sad.”
As backlash directed at Barrow mounts online, the Bystorm Entertainment label co-founder recently secured a court victory against C.J.’s mother and Biggie’s widow, Faith Evans.
A Delaware judge sided with Barrow in an Aug. 7-dated judgment against the “Love Like This” singer. That suit was over control of Christopher Wallace’s intellectual property.
A court granted Barrow summary judgment, securing his distribution rights for Notorious B.I.G., LLC. The court also dismissed Evans’ counterclaim.
“Wayne is feeling vindicated. We obtained a total victory in a dispute that never should have happened,” his lawyer said, per People.
Two other high-profile cases involving the estates of deceased Black celebrities made headlines and divided the internet in recent weeks.
The respective family members of “The Cosby Show” actor Malcolm Jamal Warner and “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman have also been engaged in litigation over their beneficiaries.
