Primary Wave said on Thursday it partnered with The Notorious B.I.G.‘s estate to acquire a stake in the Brooklyn rapper’s music publishing and recordings, as well as certain name, image and likeness rights.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Thursday that Biggie Smalls’s late mother, Voletta Wallace, reached the deal with Primary Wave shortly before her death earlier this year, and that it valued his estate at $200 million.

The celebrated MC was born Christopher Wallace on May 21, 1972, in Brooklyn, and while he was killed in 1997, his influence on hip-hop and rap and his role in launching the careers of artists like Lil Kim and Junior M.A.F.I.A. has led to the sale of more than 28 million albums in the United States and a steady rise in the value of his works.

Biggie’s albums Ready To Die, Life After Death and the posthumously released Born Again spent the combined equivalent of more than 3 years on Billboard‘s top album sales chart, with Life After Death and Born Again both hitting No. 1.

The rap icon had 15 songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Mo Money Mo Problems” featuring Puff Daddy, Ma$e and Kelly Price, which was No. 1 for two weeks in 1997, “Hypnotize,” which spent three weeks at No. 1 the same year, “One More Chance/Stay With Me,” “Big Poppa/Warning” and “Juicy/Unbelievable.” Biggie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Primary Wave’s portfolio of songs includes works by Whitney Houston, The Doors, James Brown, Stevie Nicks, Nirvana, Prince and Bob Marley. The company and estate described this as a “panoramic partnership that will encompass The Notorious B.I.G.’s music publishing and recordings, as well as his name, image and likeness.”

Name, image and likeness rights are needed to license an artist’s work for films. Known for its role in licensing music for biopics, like Bob Marley: One Love and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Primary Wave is currently involved in biopics about Boyz II Men and Boy George—both of which are in production.

“The estate and Primary Wave will collaborate on all business moving forward in an effort to continue the incredible and innovative ork done thus far with one goal in mind, to keep the legacy of The Notorious B.I.G. alive,” the company said in a statement.

Indie label, publisher, distributor and content company EMPIRE has officially launched in South Africa, with a new office in Johannesburg, several executive hires and a launch party that featured some of the company’s biggest artists from the continent.

The office is the latest push into Africa from EMPIRE, which already operates an extensive business in Nigeria and has a division that oversees operations in MENA (Middle East/North Africa) as well. Overseeing the South African office will be EMPIRE vp of strategy and market development Ezegozie Eze Jr., while additional execs will include territory manager Innocent Nkosi-Shongwe, A&R Xivonaki Manzini and senior manager for commerce and streaming partnerships for Africa Jina Min.

“Establishing our footprint across Southern Africa is fully aligned with our mission to bring music and culture to a global audience,” EMPIRE founder/CEO Ghazi said in a statement. “We’ve already set out early on to strengthen operations in West and North Africa, and now we have the perfect team to spearhead our efforts in the Southern Africa region.”

EMPIRE launched officially in Africa in 2022, based in Lagos, Nigeria, having served as a distributor for several labels and artists in West Africa since 2016. Eze joined the Africa team four years ago from Universal Music Group Nigeria, where he had been general manager; Min also joined EMPIRE in 2022, having worked at UMG and Sony; Innocent is joining from UMG South Africa to oversee EMPIRE’s label operations in the country; while Xivo has worked with artists and brands such as Beyoncé, PJ Morton, Coca-Cola and Netflix.

“With our expansion from West Africa into Southern Africa, EMPIRE is committed to amplifying the region’s rich and diverse soundscapes, developing the next wave of generational talent and driving greater commercial success for independent artists and the industry as a whole,” Eze said in a statement. Added Innocent, “Music, culture and independence are at the core of our operations at EMPIRE. We aim always to ensure artists can trust that we want the best for them and their careers. We are more than a label; we build brands and encourage artists to pursue their creativity authentically.” 

As part of the launch, EMPIRE held a kickoff party in January called ASAMBE! South Ahh, which featured performances from the likes of Emtee, Goldmax, Ndabo Zulu, Nontokozo Mkhize and Sminofu, among others, while EMPIRE artists like Fireboy DML, Black Sherif and L.A.X. were in attendance. The company also launched what it is calling the EMPIRE Exclusives DJ Mixer, which is a platform that allows artists and producers to play unreleased music together, according to a press release.

This is the latest expansion for EMPIRE, which in recent months has also opened offices in Australia and East Asia as well as completing the acquisition of Top Drawer Merch, among other moves.

Sitting in a sun-drenched room at Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton, Gracie Abrams is shaking her head “no.” She’s reflecting on a breakout 2024 — during which she scored her highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 hit to date and received her second Grammy Award nomination, for “Us,” a collaboration with none other than Taylor Swift. But Abrams still struggles to see herself as the superstar she’s become.

“It’s such a dream and a pretty wild ride to look back on the year and be able to reflect on all of these moments that I never could have imagined ever happening,” the 25-year-old says in quiet awe. When it comes to the matter of her smash hit “That’s So True,” it is true — she never saw it coming. After humming the song’s in-the-works hook and melody for months, she and her songwriting partner and roommate Audrey Hobert finished it in about 15 minutes one day after “laughing our asses off on the roof” of New York’s Electric Lady Studios.

Join us at Billboard Women in Music 2025 — get your tickets here.

The catchy, stream-of-consciousness song was one of four additions to the deluxe version of Abrams’ second album, The Secret of Us (which arrived in October), but quickly surpassed the album’s previous hits, including “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “Close to You” (which peaked at Nos. 19 and 49, respectively, while “True” reached No. 6). Such wins have helped Abrams, who co-wrote and co-­produced every track on The Secret of Us and its deluxe edition, earn the Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music Songwriter of the Year honor — but, with characteristic humility, she won’t say she’s mastered the craft just yet.

“F–k no! Sorry,” she says with a laugh. “I feel very far away from having mastered anything in my life. But I will continue to attempt to get closer to that point.”

Since you released your debut album in 2023, how have you grown as a songwriter?

What I can point to specifically that has broadened my horizons is the partnership I’ve had with Audrey. She’s my oldest friend and we very much grew up together, and then to fold in this collaborative [relationship] was not something either of us ever would have anticipated. But as a songwriter, to find someone who you feel so open with, who you trust so much, who knows everything about you, who knows what your conversational language sounds like, who knows if you’re lying about a feeling… it infused so much life into our album that we made together.

What’s an example of a time she called “bulls–t” on you?

Less like “bulls–t” and more [like] in the morning if I would come downstairs and she’s like, “How are you doing?” I’m like, “I’m fine.” And she’s like, “You f–king liar.” Or like, “I’m really over that person,” [and she’s like,] “No, you’re not, you liar.” We checked each other as much in our songwriting process as we did in our day-to-day friendship.

As we speak, you’re about to head out on your European/U.K. tour [which Abrams wrapped March 12]. How did you spend your time before returning to the road?

I have just come back from being at Aaron [Dessner’s studio, Long Pond, in New York] so I feel like… I’m in the middle of something. I don’t know what it is yet… We’ve been collecting a whole lot of music over the past few months, and he and I are both very curious about all of it because I think [the songs] belong in different worlds a little bit, which excites me. I think that means there are many possibilities for what either the singular project looks like or multiple [projects].

You said you haven’t mastered songwriting yet. Do you feel close?

No. Oh, my God, no. I want to broaden my vocabulary times a thousand. I want to spend the majority of my year reading so that I can do that. I feel nowhere near that level. I have a million people I want to continue to learn from. Taylor is a great example of someone I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time around and every single time I’m like, “Tell me everything you know, please. Teach me how to be.” I want to live fully and do my best to capture what that feels like.

This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.

Queen City music fans will have to wait a while to see Janet Jackson after the pop star announced on Thursday (March 20) that due to “personal matters” she will not be headlining the second night of this summer’s Cincinnati Music Festival.

“To all my Cincinnati Music Festival fans…. I’m so sorry that I won’t be able to be with you all in July. Some personal matters have come up and I am unable to attend. I look forward to seeing you all soon!” Jackson, 58, said in a statement shared by promoters.

Jackson — who previously headlined the festival in 2022 — was slated to headline on July 26 at Paycor Stadium on a bill that also includes Lucky Daye, 112, The Bar-Kays and a tribute to one of the event’s most beloved perennial stars, late R&B legend Maze frontman Frankie Beverly featuring the TMF Band (formerly Maze) feat. Jubu, as well as special guests Ronald Isley, Joe, After 7, Dave Hollister and Raheem DeVaughn.

“We just learned that Janet Jackson is unable to perform at the 2025 Cincinnati Music Festival presented by P&G due to personal matters,” the event’s promoters said in a statement. “Festival organizers are working quickly to fill her spot on the lineup.”

Night one of this year’s show (July 25) will be headlined by Earth, Wind & Fire and also feature Anthony Hamilton, PJ Morton, Jazmine Sullivan and a Zapp Band tribute to the King Records legacy featuring Dreion. The beloved summertime classic that draws fans from across the country first took place in 1959 in French Lick, IN with a lineup that included the Miles David Quintet, Duke Ellington’s Big Band, Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn.

It has changed names, and profiles, over the years, but has always remained one of the calendar highlights for both the city and music lovers.

After moving to Cincinnati in 1962, it began to shift from a jazz-focused gathering to one that also incorporated a wide range of blues, R&B and soul, featuring such 1970s headliners as Roberta Flack, Ray Charles, Ike & Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye. In the 1980s and 90s it welcomed everyone from Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross, to New Edition, Natalie Cole and Patti LaBelle.

Though the 2000s have continued to focus on those genres with sets from D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, John Legend, Fantasia, Maxwell, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott and hometown hero Bootsy Collins, in recent years it has added a third night of programming at the adjacent Brady Music Center spotlighting hip-hop. This year’s opening night will feature sets from Scarface, Goodie Mob, the Sugarhill Gang and Young MC.

While Jackson will not be back this year, at press time the singer’s official site still listed a run of six weekend residency shows at the Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas between May 21-31.