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In a new interview with Ebro, Peter Rosenberg and Laura Stylez on Hot 97, Rap-A-Lot founder and CEO James Prince explains his current financial issues with Cash Money Records.
He says the label owes him and his son Jas Prince for their Drake partnership, and he believes the money in question has already been mismanaged and spent.
“It’s no secret that we’re at odds as far as my son’s money is concerned,” said Prince. “Of course, some has been given, (but) all of it is gonna have to be given.”
The Rap-A-Lot founder and CEO added that he views Cash Money founders Brian “Baby” and Ronald “Slim” Williams as extended family, and he has no ill will towards them. He just wants his money.
Prince added, “Where we’re concerned, I think that they don’t really have it. They done went through it. And now I’m in a road of having a conversation with Universal.”
Cash Money Records has been distributed by Universal Records and Universal Music Group since 1998 and is currently a subsidiary of UMG.
Earlier in the interview, Prince explains how he and his son Jas got into business with Lil Wayne and Cash Money. He says he invested $1 million in a label built around Drake while he was still touring with Wayne based off his son’s recommendation.
Hit the jump to see stars like Wayne, Juvenile and Mannie Fresh speak out about their cash money issues with Baby and Slim over the years.
Lil Wayne
Cash Money’s longest-tenured star famously tweeted “Where is my money?” before accusing Baby and Slim of owing him $51 million and 49% control of the Young Money imprint he founded under Cash Money.
The former Father-Son duo is still in a Cold War of sorts since the tweets, with everyone from JAY-Z to Rick Ross to Pusha T weighing on how unfairly they are treating Weezy F. Baby.
Mannie Fresh
In a SMACK DVD volume that was released back in 2006, Cash Money’s super-producer Mannie Fresh announced, “I left Cash Money because of money, scratch, moola. I move on if something’s not right. I had to do my thing, because it wasn’t right. I still holla at everyone. I still get along with them dudes. I still look at them like brothers, I wasn’t raised like that. Its just a growing up thing and I had to move on.”
Former Hot Boys B.G. and Juvenile also appeared in the DVD to claim their money had been “mismanaged” by the Williams brothers.
U.N.L.V.
In 2007, Cash Money settled out of court with one of its first acts U.N.L.V., who signed way back in 1992.
XXL reported:
The trio released six albums on Cash Money, but according to their lawsuit, they were never fully compensated. While both sides have now reached an agreement on how to settle the lawsuit, the exact terms of the settlement are confidential. U.N.L.V. is credited with starting the gangsta bounce style of New Orleans hip-hop that the Cash Money Millionaires popularized in the late ‘90s.
The pioneering group lost member Yella Boyee in 1999 to murder, but surviving members Tec-9, Lil Ya have remained outspoken about their issues with Baby and Cash Money.
Juvenile
In a 2012 interview with Complex, Juve went into great detail about why he chose to leave the label before returning in 2003 for a $4 million payday:
“My reason [to leave Cash Money] is the same reason most artists leave their label—money. The music business is like the sports business. We use entertainment agents, entertainment lawyers. The only difference is they play sports. We all try to operate a certain way. When you put in that much work, you should be compensated for it. I’m number one on this station, number one on that station so I checked the contracts and went back over the paperwork. I was naïve in the beginning, I didn’t want anybody telling me anything because, hey, you didn’t help me get this situation and you’re on the outside. I should’ve listened because they had me in a contract that I’d still be in. There was no future for me in the contract. So I went, ‘Well, damn. I’m working like a slave and I’m getting nothing.’ So I got an entertainment lawyer and found out Cash Money weren’t who they said they were with me. One thing led to another and I said, ‘Pay me this and we’re cool’. They ain’t pay us and we went to court. They lost in court. Simple as that. I wanted $4 million. I didn’t want to go to trial, but they felt like they didn’t owe me anything. That $4 million wound up going to $11 million. Of course I didn’t get all with court fees and lawyer fees, but it put me through the ringer where I didn’t want to do anymore business again.”
Juve also says he tried to warn the rest of the group, but it backfired on him:
“I had to do all that to get money that I earned. I kind of paved the way for all that you got going on right now. If you were gonna pay anybody, me and Mannie should be the first two people the check was cut to. Mannie is still trying to get his money right now, it’s crazy. What’s crazy is I got I wise to it and I tried to be a good Samaritan to my group and warn them. ‘Hey man, my paperwork not right. Didn’t y’all receive the paperwork? What kind of lawyer do you have?’ They was like, ‘Yeah, I got a lawyer.’ I’m like, ‘Do you have an entertainment lawyer [or a criminal lawyer]? There’s a big difference. Criminal lawyers don’t know shit about contracts. You might wanna get a real lawyer and backtrack.’ One thing lead to another and somebody repeated what I said because at the time I was the number one person on the label. I guess they wanted to be the number ones. They went back and told [Baby and Slim] everything I said, so that made it even worse. They ain’t want me around no more.”
The “Back That Azz Up” MC fought in court for three years and eventually won, which made some of the other artists on the label reach back out to him to see how they could remedy their own situations:
“When I left Cash Money, I left not liking anybody. I tried to be good to ya’ll and ya’ll telling motherfuckers what I said. I’m trying to show y’all where y’all getting ripped out of your money at. It’s all love now. They come to me now, even Mannie Fresh, and he’s like, ‘Man, you told me. You tried to tell me.’ After I beat them, B.G. pops up, then Mannie pops up and I’m like, ‘Oh, now you wanna see my case files?’ I’m like that’s cool. This case went on for three years, where were ya’ll? I didn’t get a phone call. Nobody checked to see if I was okay. Three years of no shows, no nothing. Three years. I’m not saying they owe me anything, but don’t expect me to help you out when you’re part of the reason I’m gone. And you’re not who you said you were. We had made a vow to each that no matter what happens we were gonna stick together, because we didn’t have a record company. We don’t own a company, so if a finger is going to be pointed, it ain’t going be pointed at us because it ain’t our fault.”
Producers of Tha Carter III
Despite selling one million units in its first week, Tha Carter III was one of the biggest financial headaches in Cash Money history.
In addition to the current issues with Wayne, the label was also sued by producers Bangladesh (“A Milli”), Play-N-Skillz (“Got Money”), Jim Jonson and Deezle (“Lollipop”), all of whom claimed they were owed unpaid royalties and compensation for their work.
All cases were eventually settled out of court.
Tyga
In 2014, Tyga tweeted that the YMCMB label was “holding him hostage” and refusing to release his new album, which he threatened to leak.
YMCMB President Mack Maine shot back, “Don’t forget about puttin limes in coconuts!!! What you “rep” didn’t make you or build you!!” but time has proven Tyga’s beef to be legit.
The desperation and frustration in those tweets is similar to the feelings shared by Wayne and others since.
Pharrell
According to Pusha T, his issues with Cash Money go way back before Drake was even on Degrassi.
The Neptunes and Clipse collaborated with Baby on 2002’s classic “What Happened To That Boy,” but Birdman allegedly failed to pay them for their contributions.
Ebro in the Morning goes into further detail below:
