Shocking amount toddler was paid to be the face of one of the most notable rap albums of all time
A man who featured on the cover of an enormously successful album as a child was paid a shocking amount for the work.
You might think that featuring on one of the most iconic hip-hop albums of all time might scoop you a pretty big payday.
But that was not the case for the child pictured on the cover of Ready to Die by Notorious B.I.G.
Many have previously believed that the child featured on the album cover was the rapper himself, but it was actually another child entirely that the studio had hired to pose for the album artwork.
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The album went platinum multiple times, selling nearly four million copies in the US, and was even inducted into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant'.
A subsequent investigation tracked down the child on the album, identifying him as Keithroy Yearwood.
Yearwood's mom, Delicia Burns, had brought her son in after hearing about a casting call for the artwork, providing baby pictures of Yearwood to help with his audition.
You might think the fee for such a successful album would be a lot; maybe not enough to never have to work again, but certainly a decent chunk of change.
However, this was far from the case, with Yearwood saying that the payout for the album cover was a one-off fee of just $150.
Nonetheless, Yearwood doesn't seem to have any sour grapes.
“I just want people to know that’s me. The truth is finally coming out,” he said in an interview, adding: “It’s an honor to be on this album.”
The album artwork launched a string of similar covers over the following years.
Artists including Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake have all included album covers with either themselves as children or another child featured on the cover.
Hip-hop is not the only genre to feature a child on the cover of an iconic album, with Nirvana's 1991 EP Nevermind featuring Spencer Elden as an infant.
Elden would go on to sue the band over the album cover, which showed him as a baby, naked in a swimming pool, clutching towards a dollar bill that was being held on a line in front of him.
He alleged that the artwork constituted child sex abuse and sued the band for 'permanent harm' and a 'lifelong loss of income-earning capacity'.
However, the case was thrown out by a judge who said it passed the 10-year statute of limitations.
Kit Roberts