sotheby's hip hop auction

 

About Sotheby’sSotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Iconic pieces of Hip Hop history set new benchmarks and achieved new records throughout the sale, including Notorious B.I.G.’s worn and signed crown from the 1997 “K.O.N.Y.” photoshoot for Rap Pages magazine; Fab 5 Freddy’s custom MTV ring; a complete run of The Source magazine, the definitive guide to Hip Hop; Salt-N-Pepa’s famous “Push It” jackets; an archive of love letters written by teenage Tupac Shakur’s; a pair of custom Air Force 1 by Ms. Opal Lee, Niko Brim, and Sierato in honor of Juneteenth Holiday Campaign; Dr. Dre’s shiny World Class Wreckin’ Cru “Wrapped in Romance” suit; a cover study for De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising album; and much more. Institutional recognition, timing and commodification of Black culture. The Crown Worn & Signed by Notorious B.I.G. DRAKE UNRELEASED AIR JORDAN IV RETRO | PROTOTYPE/SAMPLE | SIZE 11NIKE, NIKE AIR JORDAN IV, SIZE 11Rubber, Leather,Cotton, Metal, Plastic. Sotheby’s is chalking up its street cred. The crown, one of 120 lots, is on the block at Sotheby’s inaugural hip-hop auction on September 15th. There’s also the issue of authenticity and equity — which, in the midst of four simultaneous pandemics (health, economics, politics, climate), are now non-negotiable public demands for any brand. The premium goes to Sotheby’s, which reached $4.8 billion in worldwide sales in their 2019 auctions. The sale also marks the LP as the most expensive vinyl Hip Hop record sold at auction. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Writing about digital culture at intersection of entertainment and technology. The exhibition will also be available to the public online via our new immersive digital gallery experience. The auction received remarkable interest with more than 400 registered bidders, more than 25% of whom were new to Sotheby’s, from 19 countries around the world, illustrating the widespread global reach of Hip Hop as a one of the world’s most impactful and beloved cultural movements. Schoolly D, an originator of gangsta rap and an artist who was featured in the auction. wore in the final photoshoot before his death was officially sold yesterday (Sept. 15).. In addition to creating the graffiti-influenced cover and label artwork, Basquiat also produced, directed and independently issued the vinyl in a run of only 500 copies on his own Tartown Inc. label. I am interested in culture and how it moves people. Organized by Sotheby’s VP Cassandra Hatton and former Tommy Boy Records exec Monica Lynch (both white women), the auction was intended to reflect on hip-hop … Out of the entire auction, only five consignors (for lots 12, 36, 80, 81 and 118), with sales totaling $170,226, indicated their intention to donate money to various charities. An archive of 22 love letters from Tupac Shakur to his high school sweetheart. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as Advisory services for collectors, museums, corporations, artists, estates and foundations. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. “Achieving an overall total of $2 million, the auction was a celebration of the history and cultural impact Hip Hop has had on art and culture,” said Sotheby’s on their official Instagram page shortly after the sale. From the Iconic 1997 ‘King of New York’ Photograph. Beyond brands, recording artists fall prey to cultural appropriation – both Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus have been accused of appropriating Black, hip-hop culture in their own music. A deeply personal archive of 22 autographed love letters written by a 16-year-old Tupac Shakur to Kathy Loy, a high school sweetheart and fellow student at the Baltimore School for the Arts fetched $75,600. Many platforms that supported early Internet-native hip-hop artists, including DatPiff and SoundCloud, even embraced giving away music for free in exchange for building loyal fan communities. © 2021 Forbes Media LLC. Yet if you look at the “provenance” (i.e. In 1986, iconic Bronx rapper Kurtis Blow appeared in a Sprite commercial, and over the next several decades, the brand evolved with hip-hop to create the “Obey Your Thirst” campaign,  going on to honor artists like 2Pac, Missy Elliott, J. Cole, Drake and Rakim in subsequent ads. Sotheby's first hip hop auction, of recent and legacy items, will be held in New York on September 15. More than 10 new artist auction records were also achieved, with many artists appearing at auction for the first time, as the sale continued to break ground for Hip Hop artists spanning fine art, photography, illustration, sculpture, and more. It follows the 270-year-old auction house’s recent forays into collectible sneakers, space memorabilia, pop music lyrics and designer handbags. After highlighting sneakers and handbags in recent years, Sotheby's in New York is branching out again for the September auction, which will feature some 120 lots representing hip-hop artifacts, jewelry, fashion and fine art. As thorough and well-intentioned as this first-ever hip-hop auction was, it seemed to lack a critical lens on the collection’s diversity, from both an artist and gender standpoint. (King of New York)’ portrait session, which sold for $594,750. NEW YORK, 4 September 2020 – Sotheby’s is thrilled to unveil the full contents of our inaugural Hip Hop auction, to be held live at 6PM EST on 15 September in New York. The Sotheby’s auction this week only amplifies the inherent tensions that have always come with the “museumification” of a culture like hip-hop that is always a moving target, consistently choosing to reinvent rather than ossify itself, let alone make itself more accessible. Today, Sotheby’s has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris. Sotheby’s itself committed an undisclosed portion of its proceeds to benefit hip-hop programs at The Queens Public Library and Building Beats, a non-profit teaching young people in underserved communities tech literacy and entrepreneurial skills through DJ and music programs. Sotheby’s will soon launch an auction in New York to celebrate the cultural importance of hip hop. Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure to preview the upcoming first Hip Hop auction hosted by Sotheby’s in New York. The first ever dedicated hip-hop auction to be presented at a major international auction house, Hip Hop features lots including the crown the Notorious B.I.G. Five bidders competed for more than 7 minutes driving the price to nearly triple the low estimate of $200,000. I host the Current Mood podcast, a series exploring mental health and entrepreneurialism. Indeed, this will be celebrated at Sotheby’s upcoming auction on 15 September in New York — the first-ever auction fully dedicated to the impact of hip hop. And many hip-hop artists turned entrepreneurs/investors like Jay-Z, Diddy, Dr. Dre and Kanye West have amassed substantive wealth through diversifying their own business empires beyond music into areas like fashion, alcohol and emerging tech, which in turn impacts how outsiders perceive the value of hip-hop culture at large. S otheby’s is honored to announce an auction celebrating the history and cultural impact of Hip Hop on 15 September in New York. Hatton said the decision by Sotheby's to devote an entire auction to hip-hop reflects its impact over 40 years on fashion, design, art and pop culture. THE FAMOUS CROWN WORN BY THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. It follows the 270-year-old auction house's recent forays into collectible sneakers, space memorabilia, pop music lyrics and designer handbags. The vinyl was consigned by Profile Records Co-Founder Cory Robbins, who will be donating 100% of the sale proceeds to the Archive of Contemporary Music. The Notorious B.I.G. While hip-hop may now be recognizable to the mainstream, at what point is appreciation, appropriation? A celebration of the history and cultural impact Hip Hop has had on art and culture from the late 1970s through the “Golden Age” of the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, and up to the present, the sale was comprised of unique artifacts, contemporary art, one of a kind experiences, photography, vintage and modern fashion, historic and newly designed jewelry and luxury items, rare ephemera including flyers and posters, important publications, and more. But just because music is free or more affordable doesn’t mean it lacks the cultural impact worthy of an exhibition — in the case of hip-hop, it’s quite the opposite. With the intention of showcasing the power of hip-hop through artifacts over time, the collection pulled primarily from innovators who birthed the culture in the Bronx, New York, capturing key genre players from the 1970s all the way through the present day including Run-D.M.C., J.J. Fad, Slick Rick, Prince Paul, Questlove, the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Salt-N-Pepa, Schoolly D, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul and dozens more. The auction was led by the crown worn by Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie/Biggie Smalls and Notorious B.I.G.) Highlights include the Notorious B.I.G.’s unmistakable jeweled plastic crown, which was purchased for $6 in 1997 and consigned for this week’s auction by photographer Barron Claiborne (final sale price of $594,750); 22 handwritten letters from west coast rapper Tupac Shakur to his high school sweetheart ($75,600); a 12” single of Rammellzee vs K-Rob’s "Beat Bop" with artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat ($126,000); late jewelry designer Judith Leiber’s one-of-a-kind diamond encrusted disco boombox and “Don’t Call Me, I’ll Call You” brick phone handbag ($15,750); a Louis Vuitton X Supreme monogram trunk ($88,200); and a private atelier experience with legendary designer Dapper Dan ($11,340). The heartfelt and sweetly sincere correspondence reveals Shakur’s vulnerability and naturally poetic writing-style, with frequent lyrical turns and separate love poems included in the body of the letters, which set the foundation for his distinctive style and tone as a rapper. The selection documents the birth and cultural impact of the hip-hop movement. The Wu-Tang Clan held a private listening party for their final album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin at MoMA PS1 in 2015, then auctioned off the sole existing copy of the album later that year for $2 million to an unfortunate buyer in big pharma. On September 15, the auction house will hold its inaugural hip-hop auction, carrying more than 120 lots comprising artworks, fashion pieces, photography, and unique artifacts. The art installation features 32 extremely rare and vintage boomboxes from the early 1980s through the early 1990s, displayed together on a custom-built shelf, and wired together to function as a singular sound system. Key pillars of authenticity include diversity, representation and transparency, much of which was missing from this auction in terms of including a varied and historically representative range of hip-hop influencers, while being transparent about how, if at all, the lion’s share of funds would benefit either today’s or yesterday’s hip-hop community. The item, signed by the rapper days before his death in 1997, smashed auction estimates that had initially valued it between $200,000 and $300,000. Items from Notorious B.I.G. Love letters written by Tupac Shakur to a high school sweetheart were another featured lot. Co-authored by: Jacqueline Schneider and Cherie Hu. The sale includes items from hip-hop’s earliest days … Sotheby’s made history last night with its inaugural hip-hop auction. Even though hip-hop exists as an important pillar of Black culture, it is unclear if any Black curators were tapped for Sotheby’s first-ever hip-hop auction. The … My coverage sweet spot is the intersection of music and technology, however, I also write about entertainment. NEW YORK, 16 September 2020 – Tonight in New York, Sotheby’s inaugural auction dedicated to Hip Hop achieved $2 million, surpassing its high estimate with an exceptional 91% of all lots sold. As an established photographer not only in hip-hop but also in global cultural storytelling, Chi approached Sotheby’s some years ago by cold emailing the contact on their website, in hopes of elevating his category of work within the secondary market ecosystem. from @barronclaiborne’s iconic 1997 ‘King of New York’ photoshoot for Rap Pages Magazine. It is notable that most Nike samples are produced in size 9 unless they are produced for a specific person. Personal items from Notorious B.I.G. The bejeweled plastic crown worn by Biggie Smalls in the legendary “K.O.N.Y.” (King of New York) photo shoot sold for $600,000 (soaring above its low estimate of $200,000) Tuesday night at Sotheby’s, in the auction house’s first-ever dedicated hip-hop sale. All hail the King of New York! Since 2017, Spotify has tried to take on the role of quasi-museum curator itself through its “RapCaviar Pantheon” campaign, which honors “cultural disruptors” like Cardi B, Juice WRLD and Gunna with lifesize statues that are also displayed in the Brooklyn Museum. Beyoncé and Jay-Z filmed their notorious music video for “Apesh*t” in the Louvre. Instagram |Facebook |Twitter |YouTube |LinkedIn |Pinterest |WeChat |Weibo |Youku. About the collection and secondary market appeal. AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS, per Sotheby’s: The auction was led by the crown worn by Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie/Biggie Smalls and Notorious B.I.G.) NEW YORK, 16 September 2020 – Tonight in New York, Sotheby’s inaugural auction dedicated to Hip Hop achieved $2 million, surpassing its high estimate with an exceptional 91% of all lots sold. 2017These exceptionally rare sneakers are an unreleased Drake promotional prototype/sample in a black, fire-red, wolf-grey and white colorway. Sotheby’s first-ever hip-hop auction, a curated collection of 119 iconic pieces to honor the genre’s impact on art and culture over the past 50 years, closed Tuesday with over $2 million in sales. Sotheby’s closed on Tuesday evening its first auction dedicated to hip-hop, achieving $2 million with 91 percent of all lots sold. Rammellzee vs. K-Rob “Beat Bop” Original, Soars to More Than 50x Its Estimate, Achieving $126,000, *Most Expensive Hip Hop Vinyl Record Sold at Auction*, DJ Ross One’s Wall of Boom, An Installation Featuring 32 Functioning Vintage Boom Boxes, Brings $113,400, A Portion of Sotheby’s Proceeds Benefitting the Queens Public Library Hip Hop Programs and Building Beats, A Non-Profit Community Organization Focused on DJ & Music Programs, Cassandra Hatton, Vice President & Senior Specialist in Sotheby’s Books & Manuscripts Department. Hired by Rap Pages Magazine to photograph Biggie for the cover, Claiborne’s concept was to portray the rapper as the King of New York on his throne but in a stripped-down manner – a departure from the popular over the top Hip Hop imagery of the late 90s. and Tupac Shakur. Sotheby’s first-ever hip-hop auction, a curated collection of 119 iconic pieces to honor the genre’s impact on art and culture over the past 50 years, closed Tuesday with over $2 million in sales. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s Until now hip-hop, a global lingua franca, has been in use seemingly everywhere but in auction rooms. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium and overhead premium and are net of any fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid. To style Biggie as royal, Claiborne brought two crowns of different sizes to the shoot; one was far too small, and in order to make the now-legendary crown fit, the interior foam cushioning had to be removed. ]; BARRON CLAIBORNE[BIGGIE'S CROWN]. Each final sale price is calculated by adding the final bid offer plus a buyer’s premium ranging from 13.9% to 25% based on the sale amount. This raises questions about whom an auction like this, hosted by one of the world’s largest art brokers, ultimately benefits. Schoolly D poses in front of DJ Ross One's "The Wall of Boom," which sold for $113,400. FOR THE ICONIC "K.O.N.Y" [KING OF NEW YORK] PORTRAIT SESSION, SHOT BY PHOTOGRAPHER BARRON CLAIBORNE ON MARCH 6, 1997, IN HIS NEW YORK STUDIO.Plastic crown, adorned with multi-colored plastic gemstones; SIGNED BY BIGGIE SMALLS, AND SIGNED AND … A total of 42 pages on 24 sheets of paper and one greeting card, the letters range in date from late March 1987 to April 1988 and chronicle the approximately two-month long romance between the pair – spanning their first meeting, to their eventual break-up, and a letter of regret sent a year later. A$AP Rocky is one of the only modern-day rappers featured, implying a strong skew away from the present day. However, Biggie was open to the idea, resulting in one of the most recognizable images in Hip Hop culture and one of the most famous Hip Hop portraits ever taken. from @barronclaiborne’s iconic 1997 ‘King of New York’ photoshoot for Rap Pages Magazine sold for $600,000. This curatorial project was arranged by Cassandra Hatton, Vice President and Senior Specialist at Sotheby’s, who has over a decade of experience selling, appraising and cataloguing rare books, manuscripts and historic artifacts. recent ownership history) of each item in the collection, there are a lot more photographers, designers, record-label executives and unnamed private collectors than there are actual rappers or musical artists. Considered a “holy grail” Hip Hop record, the vinyl achieved $126,000 – exceeding its high estimate by more than 50 times. and Tupac Shakur are up for auction at Sotheby’s, the first hip-hop auction at a major international auction house. Hatton said the decision by Sotheby’s to devote an entire auction to hip-hop reflects its impact over 40 years on fashion, design, art and pop culture. Over the past several years, artists have tried to frame their music or art within the context of museums, often by partnering directly with major art institutions. His contact information fell on the desk of the curators for this auction as they geared up to curate the hip-hop collection. You can unsubscribe from Sotheby’s emails at any time by clicking the “Manage your Subscriptions” link in any of your emails. The auction’s total final sale amount of $2 million exceeded Sotheby’s own estimates by nearly 20%. My coverage sweet spot is the intersection of music and technology, however, I also write about entertainment, media, gender, and sometimes food. Another standout lot was a Rammellzee vs. K-Rob “Beat Bop” original, sealed 12-inch single featuring original artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat from 1983. Included in the lot are three specially sized (36 x 40") prints – all 1/1 printed and signed by Claiborne – of the iconic ‘K.O.N.Y’ photograph, the 10th anniversary K.O.N.Y. [THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Sotheby ’s is set to hold an auction commemorating the history and cultural impact of hip-hop on Sept. 15 in New York.. Doing so only dilutes the very essence of the culture and the dynamism of the humans who created it. NOTORIOUS B.I.G.’S ‘KING OF NEW YORK’ CROWN That said, the timing of the Sotheby’s hip-hop auction might be off, given the wider discussions that have been happening through initiatives like Blackout Tuesday and The Show Must Be Paused about the commodification of Black culture and the importance of proper compensation for its creators. Sotheby’s presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including three retail businesses: Sotheby’s Wine, Sotheby’s Diamonds, and Sotheby’s Home, the online marketplace for interior design. You may opt-out by. 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The interior of the crown bears the inscription “Crown from Biggie KONY Shot NYC 3-6-97” and is signed by both Biggie and Claiborne. when photographed by Barron Claiborne as the King of New York, ... [+] 1997. “Sotheby’s is a secondary market, they allow you to make money off of the demand you create, that’s the beauty of an auction,” says photographer Chi Modu, whose iconic images of rappers like Tupac, Eazy-E, Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard were included in the collection. “Original hip-hop is high art,” says Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr., a.k.a. Recently showcased in the groundbreaking book and exhibition Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop by Vikki Tobak, the crown was offered by the photographer Barron Claiborne, whose possession it has remained since the ‘K.O.N.Y’ photoshoot, which took place just three days before Biggie was killed in Los Angeles. The collection, which was seven years in the making, reflected how hip-hop has changed not just music, but also the very fabric of popular culture over the past several decades. Hatton said the decision by Sotheby’s to devote an entire auction to hip-hop reflects its impact over 40 years on fashion, design, art and pop culture. photograph, and the contact sheet. The first-ever dedicated Hip Hop auction to be presented at a major international auction house, the sale reflects on the impact Hip Hop has had on art and culture from the late 1970s through the “Golden Age” of the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, and up to the present. 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Created by world-renowned Roc Nation DJ and collector of all things Hip Hop, DJ Ross One, The Wall of Boom sold for $113,400. A majority of items on offer in the sale were consigned directly from Hip Hop’s most pivotal and well-known artists and figures. A cultural movement of authentic stories and experiences cannot be bought and sold. Crown worn by The Notorious B.I.G. Beyond directly music-related memorabilia from hip-hop such as concert flyers, album covers and digital samplers, a large portion of the collection also showcased fashion and jewelry designers, photographers and other visual artists who played important adjacent roles in the documentation and stylization of hip-hop. Key musical influencers in hip-hop like A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, Lil’ Kim, Mary J. Blige and Pulitzer Prize for Music recipient Kendrick Lamar were among those absent from the collection. The accessory, which was up for sale at Sotheby’s first ever hip hop auction, was purchased for $6 and slated to sell between $200,000 and $300,000.Instead, a lucky buyer bought the photo for $600,000! Sotheby will host its first-ever hip-hop auction featuring two prized items from late hip-hop heavyweights The Notorious B.I.G. Exclusive rare photos (4) from the estate of photographer Mpozi Mshale Tolbert, 1993-1996: (L-R) The ... [+] Roots Jam shot, Questlove record shopping, Lauryn Hill, and Q-Tip. Roots Jam shot, Questlove record shopping, Lauryn Hill, and Q-Tip. In addition, of the 119 items in the auction, less than 20% featured women who pioneered or are now part of the hip-hop movement. Sotheby’s is honored to announce an auction celebrating the history and cultural impact of Hip Hop on 15 September in New York. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Tonight during our inaugural Hip Hop auction, one of the most iconic symbols of Hip Hop’s heyday: the crown worn and signed by Notorious B.I.G. Sean "Diddy" Combs, owner of Biggie’s label Bad Boy Records, accompanied the artist on the shoot, and was reportedly unhappy with the concept, worrying that it made him look like "the Burger King". Co-opting and commodifying hip-hop culture is certainly nothing new. Salt-N-Pepa's personal "Push It" jackets worn in the 2015 Geico Super Bowl Commercial. Hip-hop certainly benefits from the streaming boom — alongside R&B, it’s the top streamed genre in the U.S. — but the reality is that a lot of people still expect digital music to be free or close to free, drastically lowering the margins that an up-and-coming artist can get on their streaming income today. * Estimates do not include buyer's premium or overhead premium. It was all a dream… Today we announced that on 15 September in #NYC we will present a live auction celebrating the history and cultural impact of Hip Hop, headlined by one of the most iconic symbols of Hip Hop’s heyday: the crown worn and signed by Notorious B.I.G. & World Trade Center, 1996. The auction was organized in collaboration with Monica Lynch, former president of Tommy Boy Records (1981-1998) who helped launch the careers of legends Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, and Naughty by Nature, among many others. Shakur writes about his nascent music career, divulging his doubts about pursuing rap as a profession, in addition to providing small glimpses into his home life with mentions of his mother working late night and his responsibilities to help care for his cousins. during the 1997 ‘K.O.N.Y. By subscribing you are agreeing to Sotheby’s Privacy Policy. With the consultation of Monica Lynch, former president of iconic hip-hop label Tommy Boy Records (Afrika Bambaataa, De La Soul, Digital Underground, Queen Latifah), Hatton assembled the collection over the past year and a half or so, working directly with many artists, photographers and designers themselves, as well as with late artists’ estates and private collectors. This underscores an important distinction between provenance and representation: In the majority of cases, the rappers you see represented in the collection on the surface aren't the ones selling the artifacts or directly receiving proceeds from the sale. I am interested in culture and how it moves people. A Johnny Nelson "Ladies First" 4 finger ring featuring Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Lady of Rage, and ... [+] Roxanne Shante, 2020. The crown that The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur on Sotheby’s auction block for first high-end hip hop auction during the 1997 ‘K.O.N.Y. A dedicated exhibition for the Hip Hop auction will be on view by appointment in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries from 11 – 15 September. The auction was a celebration of the history and cultural impact hip-hop has had on art and culture from the late 1970s through mid-1990s, and up to the present, Sotheby’s said. A portion of Sotheby’s proceeds will benefit the Queens Public Library Foundation, to support their Hip Hop Programs, coordinated by “Uncle” Ralph McDaniels, as well as Building Beats, a non-profit community organization that teaches tech, entrepreneurial and leadership skills to underserved youth through DJ and music programs. These “high art” initiatives are in stark contrast to the economics of music streaming that most hip-hop artists today deal with on a day-to-day basis.