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The auction of Damon Anthony “Dame” Dash’s stake in Roc-A-Fella Records now has a new twist as New York State claims he owes them millions in back taxes.
The legal battle over mogul Dame Dash’s share in Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records has another added twist, as a motion was filed in a federal court in Manhattan by New York’s Department of Taxation & Finance on Wednesday (August 21). According to reports, the motion was for the department to legally intervene in proceedings leading up to an auction of Dash’s share in the record label that will be conducted by the United States Marshalls Service in a Manhattan hotel on August 29. They claim that Dash owes $8.7 million in back taxes and penalties on income that he earned between 2005 and 2018.
“To date, the Department has been unsuccessful in its efforts to collect the unpaid New York State tax debt owed by Dash,” wrote attorneys for the state in the filing. “Intervening in this matter may be the Department’s only opportunity to collect some of the unpaid taxes Dash owes to New York.” The motion adds more complexity to the situation, as the share held by Dash (which totals 33.3% interest) is being auctioned off to fulfill a judgment in a lawsuit won by film producer Josh Webber. Webber sued Dash over a failed movie partnership and was granted $823,000.
However, the New York City’s Department of Social Services will receive the first share of proceeds from the auction as Dash owes $145, 096 in unpaid child support.
The tax department made it clear that its filing was not to supersede the social services department, but it also said that it had a lien against Dash’s Roc-A-Fella proceeds for over a decade. Jay-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke had tried to stop the auction from proceeding but were denied in February.
The opening bid of the auction will begin at $1.2 million, and Dash will receive any monies after the judgments are fulfilled, with his lawyer Natraj Bhushan claiming they “expect a robust auction with bids entering the several millions if not higher.” What is clear is that Mr. Damon Dash is allergic to responsibility,” Webber’s attorney Chris Brown stated in an interview. “I’m more interested in learning if New York State will file tax evasion charges against him or if he will be arrested at the upcoming auction. That is what I want to find out. Just my opinion.”
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Method Man claimed in an interview that he’s not received any streaming revenue for his music, where he also shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence.
Streaming hasn’t provided any cash to the iconic rapper and actor Method Man, which he revealed in a recent interview. The interview was for the Beyond The Mic series, a collaboration between HOT97 and UBS, and was held at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York before he took the stage for the radio station’s Summer Jam event.
The issue of streaming came up about five minutes into the conversation, where UBS Head of Sports & Entertainment Wale Ogunleye asked Method Man what grade he’d give the music industry. “The industry gets an F,” the Wu-Tang Clan member replied. “It took them too long to adjust to streaming to where they’re drowning, and trying to tread water now.”
“I think it goes way deeper than that, especially when it comes to IPs [Intellectual Properties] for artists that came from my era because honestly, I’ve never received a streaming check for my music,” Method Man stated. He didn’t elaborate further on the claim, but continued: “I’m still trying to figure it all out, because there may be someone who can make a perfect mix of the two where — I’m not saying to accept it, but at least make art out of it, and that’s what I’m always for, the creative part.”
The Tical rapper also spoke about the increasing use of artificial intelligence, or A.I., in Hip-Hop. “I’m still trying to figure out A.I., but I have seen some things that have made me raise an eyebrow,” he said, “The Drake diss with the 2Pac and Snoop [Dogg], the fake Kendrick [Lamar].. It’s a lot to it.” Snoop Dogg has been very vocal about the failures of streaming platforms within the past year, revealing that despite getting a billion streams on Spotify with his music, he hasn’t received much from his publishing. More artists such as Metro Boomin have also spoken up about the lack of revenue they’re suffering from with streaming music services.
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Earlier this summer sneakerheads got a sneak peak of Nigo’s upcoming Air Force 3 collaboration and though he hadn’t officially revealed any details about it, Nigo is now officially revealing his new iteration to the OG Nike shoe is happening and these might actually fly off shelves.
According to Highsnobiety, Nigo finally took to Instagram to showoff his crafty work on the classic sneaker and though he didn’t say when or even if they’ll see a release, hype beasts are already scheming on how to snatch a pair of the colorful remixed silhouette. Still, there are a few color ways to the AF3 that Nigo’s been spotted in, so if the sneaker were to drop which one would the general public be getting?
Per Highsnobiety:
There’s the light tan pair NIGO was spotted wearing at the end of last year, the white pair with various bright-colored overlays that was teased alongside an Air Force 1 collaboration, and, most recently, the resale page Horhead Sales has got its hand on a multi-colored patent leather pair — there’s no indication which of the Air Force sneakers will make it to shop floors.
Plus, there’s the NIGO x Nike sweatshirt the designer teased during KENZO’s Fall/Winter 2024 show, which is presumably also part of the collection.
There are still a lot of open questions about the collaboration but NIGO has given us a small peek at what’s to come and some insight into the inspirations behind the collection.
We’re not gonna front, Nigo might’ve just resurrected a overlooked Nike silhouette with these color ways. We might have to copp a pair or two.
Check out pics of Nigo’s Air Force 3’s below and let us know if you’d be interested in copping any of them in the comments section.
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Source: @PhotosByBeanz / @PhotosByBeanz
After taking a break from the music scene for quite some time the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul has returned as Mary J. Blige gets back on the mic and shows these youngn’s how R&B music used to sound in the golden era.
Linking up with Fabolous for her visuals to “Breathing,” Mary J. Blige shines in various outfits as she and Fab take to the skyline of New York City and style like the OG bosses that they are. Mary’s shades with the iced out “OG” lettering on the legs is top notch. Just sayin.’
Back in the South, Future and Metro Boomin show how lavish they living and in their clip to “Streets Made Me A King,” the two turn it up from a fancy restaurant to the strip club where they make it downpour on the talent who know a thing or two about twerking till the dollar bills stop raining.
Check out the rest of today’s drops and some joints you might’ve missed over the weekend including work from Fivio Foreign, Lil Yachty and Veeze, and more.
MARY J. BLIGE FT. FABOLOUS – “BREATHING”
FUTURE, METRO BOOMIN – “STREETS MADE ME A KING”
FIVIO FOREIGN – “DRIBBLE”
LIL YACHTY & VEEZE – “SORRY NOT SORRY”
DJ MUSTARD FT. TY DOLLA $IGN – “LIL BABY”
JABARI – “WEEKEND DRIVE”
STEVEN G FT. ERIC BELLINGER – “ICE”
LAILA! – “NOT MY PROBLEM”
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Source: Peter White / Getty / Kanye West / Bianca Censori
Kanye West is learning the hard way about posting photos of himself he doesn’t own.
Spotted on XXL, the Chicago rapper is being sued for posting photos of himself and his wife/mannequin, Bianca Censori, without permission from BackGrid USA, Inc. and Backgrid London.
Per XXL:
Documents obtained by XXL show that on Aug. 8, BackGrid USA, Inc. and Backgrid London Ltd filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ye. They allege that the Yeezy mogul used photographs on his Instagram account without the company’s permission. One of the photos in question shows West in all black while Censori walks next to him in a sheer, nude outfit while holding a purple pillow. Another pic features West and Censori at Milan’s Nuova Arena Restaurant back in February, and a third features Censori going on a shopping spree with Ye at the Balenciaga store.
According to the website, the rapper, now known as Ye, violated federal copyright law by using 10 photos without permission on his website and social accounts.
Cam’ron Also Was Sued For A Similar Situation
If this incident sounds familiar, that’s because something similar happened to Dipset co-founder and It Is What It Is host Cam’ron.
Killa Cam was ordered to pay a photographer $50,000 for his unauthorized use of a photograph. The photo in question was the iconic photo of Cam rocking a pink fur coat and headband while using a pink flip phone.
The photo’s owner, Djamilla Cochran, sued Cam’ron and his company, Dipset Couture, in April 2023 for using the photo on merchandise without permission.
In that case, the judge ruled, “The court finds that a statutory damages award of seven times the licensing fee is sufficient to compensate the plaintiff for the infringement of her copyright and to deter future infringements by punishing the defendants.”
We won’t be shocked if Ye suffers the same fate.
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Pitbull’s been relatively quiet on the music front for quite some time but that isn’t keeping the Miami representative from balling like he’s the biggest artist in the music game.
According to Variety the “Give Me Everything” artist just plunked down a huge chunk of change to buy himself a football stadium. Yes, you read that right, a football stadium. Given, it’s a college football stadium, but still it’s a very impressive purchase. According to the report, Mr. 305 plunked down a cool $6 million on the FIU Football Stadium which will now be known as Pitbull Stadium for the next five years.
Per Variety:
Along with the name, according to the agreement, Pitbull can use the stadium for up to ten days a year, “Pitbull-affiliated” performers get preference to play at games, and, of course, Pitbull gets his own suite during every game in the stadium. In return, he’s going to make an “FIU Anthem” for the university’s sports teams and will show up for at least one fundraising event per year. We’re ready for all of it: Pitbull rocking a stadium named after himself, finding out what constitutes a Pitbull-affiliated performer, hearing Pitbull’s new fight song. If you didn’t have your eyes on the FIU Panthers season before now, dale!
Not a bad investment for $6 million. Don’t be surprised if others rappers follow suit in their respective cities and states.
What do y’all think about Pitbull copping himself a college football stadium? Let us know in the comments section below.
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DJ Mustard might be in his feelings. He referred to Drake as “The Malcolm X Of White People” when discussing his recent album’s lackluster performance.
As spotted on XXL Magazine the Los Angeles, California native recently released his fourth album Faith of a Mustard Seed. Even though he collaborated with the likes of Lil Yachty, Quavo, Lil Durk and Future the project only sold 18,000 units during the first week. Given his history for producing hits for others many deemed this new effort as a commercial failure and made their feelings known directly to him on X, formerly Twitter. It seems some of the criticism got to him as he dismissed the record sales metric writing “Album sales are a form of [White] supremacy you ni**as racist.”
One fan responded “It’s only racist when your album flops. If your album sold well you’d be flexing your sales” and that’s when he went on a brief rant alleging Drake had a hand negatively impacting his album. “Drake is the Malcolm x of white people and @Akademiks make sure you post @GordoSZN first week since drake thought he did a thing with making him drop on the same day as me” he wrote. This is a reference to the rumor Drake suggested that Gordo drop his album DIAMANTE, that has two features from Drizzy, on the same day as Faith of a Mustard Seed. It seems the slander quickly escalated as he soon insinuated that bots were flooding his timeline. “These drake bots are the Nation of drizzlam” and “THE BOTS TRYNA FADE ME.”
DJ Mustard produced the beat for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”. Since then he has been involved in the Rap beef by default. You can see his posts below.
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With all the rappers that somehow got involved and took some shrapnel in the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle across borders, Big Sean managed to mark himself “Safe” from the rap brouhaha of 2024 and now that the dust has settled is back on the field with some new work to remind y’all he’s pretty damn good too.
Coming through with some new visuals to “On Up,” the rapper from the Big D gets on his family man vibes and teams with his baby mama, Jhene Aiko as he looks at himself through the eyes of his newborn seed and shows us how he spends time with his baby boy whenever he’s at home. We lowkey loving this joint. Both the song and video.
Back in the South, Gunna continues to work himself in the good graces of Hip-Hoppers who might feel a ways about him and for his clip to “One of Wun,” Gunna takes on the role of a youth coach and leads a team of young basketball players to the championship before taking off with the cheerleaders back to his quarters. Well, we didn’t see that last part happen but we assume that’s how it went down.
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from O.A.R, DJ Premier and Brady Watt, 42 Dugg, and more.
BIG SEAN – “ON UP”
GUNNA – “ONE OF WUN”
O.A.R, DJ PREMIER & BRADY WATT – “GONNA BE ME”
42 DUGG – “WRONG RIGHT”
EMILIO ROJAS – “THE NARRATIVE”
SAWEETIE – “MY BEST”
$TEELO – “CAN’T NOBODY SAVE YOU”
PHILTHY RICH – “NOTHING BETTER”
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A few days ago Ice Spice finally released her long awaited debut album, Y2K! and while many of the songs on the project have been out for a while, she did add some new work with some pretty big names featured on them and decided to give one of her standout cuts the visual treatment.
Linking up with Travis Scott for her visuals to “Oh Shhh…” Ice Spice showcases herself in a fancy museum where she shocks onlookers with her twerking skills before Travis Scott feeds her some grapes at a fancy dinner set for two. Let us find out Travis Scott and Ice Spice are going to be Hip-Hop’s new power couple.
Jorja Smith meanwhile looks to get the party started and for her clip to “High,” she uses stock footage of old school club scenes and house parties to give us that nostalgic feeling of the good times of years past with some 2024 rhythm to get turnt up to.
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from DeeBaby, 1234, and more.
ICE SPICE & TRAVIS SCOTT – “OH SHHH…”
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JORJA SMITH – “HIGH”
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SHOOTERZ & HOODSTA23 – “KNOCK OUT”
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BABY KIA & BIIGFLASH FT. BABY CRAZY – “NO GET BACK”
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DEEBABY – “MALIBU BABY”
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1234 – “VAE VANILLA”
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FREDO BANG FT. BIG HOMIIE G – “FAST N FURIOUS”
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T-RELL – “CHANGED UP”
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Tennis star Coco Gauff was ousted at the Olympic Games in Paris after contesting a call with an umpire, leaving her in tears.
Reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff’s quest for Olympic gold came to an end on Tuesday (July 30) amid controversy and tears after an argument with the chair umpire over a call during the match. Gauff, who was the number 2 seed, lost 7-6(7), 6-2 to Croatia’s Donna Vekić who will continue on to the quarterfinals. Gauff’s exit was all too familiar and frustrating, as the match was held at Court Phillippe Cartier, where the French Open was held a month earlier. Then, the 20-year-old was in a similar situation arguing a call with a chair umpire during a semifinal match that she’d lose to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Gauff seemed set to get the victory after a good lead in the first set at 4-1 but Vekić fought her off and would take command of the match. Two games before the match ended, Gauff hit a serve and Vekić’s return landed near the baseline. A line judge had initially called the return out, but chair umpire Jaume Campistol ruled that it was in and awarded Vekić the point which made it 4-2. “I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff was overheard saying to Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules.” She began to tear up and according to Portuguese commentator Jose Morgado, she continued: “I feel like I’m getting cheated constantly in this game. This is the 3rd time this happened to me this year”.
In the post-match press conference, Gauff was transparent about the situation. “There’s been multiple times this year where that’s happened to me — where I felt like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court,” she said, calling for video reviews to be instituted in tennis while acknowledging the moment wouldn’t have meant victory: “I can’t say I would have won the match if I would have won that point.” Gauff, who was one of the flag bearers for the United States at the opening ceremony, is set to take the court again with teammate Taylor Fritz for the first round of mixed doubles. “I want to come home with something,” she stated. She’s also partnered with Jessica Pegula to compete in women’s doubles.