#Notorious big crown full
Once we announce the full contents of the sale, people will see how this story comes together.”īarron Claiborne is a huge part of this story. My sales have a thread or a connection - a story running through them which links them all together, it’s the same when I’m auctioning books and manuscripts.
“Monica is deeply connected within the hip hop community, and so a lot of time was spent connecting with people. “We found the auction items organically, by word-of-mouth, often consigned directly by artists or their estates,” says Hatton. “Sotheby’s is known more for jewels, for fine art and watches and so it’s a lot of work to establish something new.” Hatton, a fan of the genre herself, says work on the auction began in earnest two years ago when she met Monica Lynch - president of Tommy Boy Records from 1981-1998. “One of the reasons it’s taken a long time is because we had to build the thing from scratch,” she said. On the phone from New York, Cassandra Hatton, Vice President & Senior Specialist in Sotheby’s Books & Manuscripts Department told Telegraph Luxury that she’s been planning the sale for seven years. But hip hop hit the big time in the 1970s not too long after traditional rock music, which has already had many prestigious auction sales around the world. The sale - on the 15th September - is not only the first ever hip hop auction at Sotheby’s, it’s the first at any established auction house. It was the rapper’s last recorded photoshoot before he was killed in Los Angeles three days later. (King of New York)’ portrait sessions with photographer Barron Claiborne. Star items, however, have been teased including love letters written by a teenage Tupac Shakur and the crown worn by Christopher Wallace (aka Notorious B.I.G.) during the March 1997 ‘K.O.N.Y. Despite that the full sales list is yet to be announced, the house has already been bombarded with eager fans emailing in asking how they can bid. When Sotheby’s New York announced the first ever auction devoted to the history and cultural impact of hip hop earlier this week, fans of the genre went wild.