News: Scott Storch Loses Record Company Lawsuit, Forced To Pay $750K

Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Sun, 24 May 2009 12:00:00
Miami hitmaker Scott Storch has reportedly been ordered to pay a film producer $750,000 who sued him over a breach of contract and civil theft suit last year.

The incident stemmed from the duo agreeing to put together a record company in June 2007 with plans to sign artists Sindy Espitia and Darrell "D Shep" Sheppard .

Sinnreich paid Storch $25,000 for 25 percent of the corporation. But Storch, 35, ''failed to form the corporation . . . and failed to return the $25,000." Storch failed to respond to the complaint and Circuit Judge granted Sinnreich's motion for default last December. Jurors recently decided the question of damages, rendering the $750,000 verdict, says Sinnreich's attorney Ronald FriedmanMarc Brumer . Sinnreich is trying to collect on the judgment but Storch, once reported to be worth $70 million, has had money woes. He fell behind in child support and owes $722,906.19 in taxes on his $10.5 million mansion on Miami Beach's Palm Island. In March, SunTrust obtained a judgment of foreclosure for $8,484,835.67. The property sale is set for June 26. ( Miami Herald )

Storch returned to the hip-hop spotlight last month confessing his recent battles with drug addiction.

"I'm taking it back to square one," he explained in an interview. "I found myself slipping a little bit, got involved in doing drugs and you know, I had to get myself into recovery, realized I was powerless over it and you know, being in the life that I was living, very fast moving, option to do or buy anything you want, go anywhere you wanna go definitely takes its toll on you. And you lose your concept of reality with the drugs and everything, had to get it under control so I'm taking it back to the beginning, back to the Hit Factory where I made a lot of my hits." ( MTV )

He recently appeared in court pleading his innocence on charges of grand theft auto revolving around a car he leased and never returned.

Storch allegedly leased a Bentley but never returned it after the expiration date. It took the leasing company 7 months to find it. He pled not guilty in Broward County Court last Friday (April 10). ( TMZ )

His vast financial problems emerged online last summer.

Storch is engrossed in dept that spans from failed property tax payments on his $10.5 million mansion and arrest warrants for several failed appearances in the child-support cases of his two sons. Storch's poor decisions have hobbled his music career. In the past the maestro commanded $100,000 per beat. Now, the embattled star has not been able to crack the Top 10 of Billboard Hot 100 since 2005 and has retreated into hiding. ( Associated Press )
Storch has not yet released a statement regarding the $750,000 ruling.

News: Bun B On Hip-Hop's Downfall, "Only 6 People Are Making Money Off Rap Music"

Written by Cyrus Langhorne
Sun, 24 May 2009 10:00:00

UGK 's Bun B recently spoke on the status of hip-hop in today's music sales slump and which Texas emcee could help ignite his homestate's popularity.

While not naming anyone specific, Bun claimed only a select few rappers were still profiting from hip-hop.
"I wonder if people who ask Southern artists [about their past streaks also] ask West coast artists or Midwest artists or New York artists that, because all those regions are falling off," Bun said in an interview. "Hip-Hop, in general, doesn't have the demand power it used to in any region. We had a good run in Houston, but every region's in trouble. There are really only six people making money off rap music. Everybody knows that...I definitely think that Z-Ro is on the brink of becoming a national superstar. It's pretty much up to him to decide whether he goes as far as he wants to go. The only thing holding Z-Ro back is Z-Ro." ( Vibe )
Former Murder Inc. frontman Ja Rule also said hip-hop was in a state of emergency late last month.
"We fighting against other genres," Rule declared in an interview. "We fightin' against motherf*ckin' rock. We fightin' against pop. We fightin' against these other genres of music. We need to be together as a whole and not separating ourselves between West and East and South. I think New York is making a strong comeback right now. I think we doin' our thing, we got Maino , we got Red Cafe . I think New York is making a surgence. I got my acts outta New York, I'm coming with a crazy album right now. But you know as a whole, it's not about New York...it's about hip-hop. We all in this together. So when I think about it, that's really my feelings on the situation." ( 57th Ave )
Jadakiss has said the quality of music from New York was previously on the decline up until recently.
"New York took a hit when everybody started getting money," Kiss said in an interview. "Everybody was doing alright in record sales. Everybody had some success but then the ego started playing a part. From then, nobody wanted to do songs with each other. N*ggas were on some, 'I'm not f*cking with that n*gga. I'm not doing that!' That hurt everybody in a whole and everybody stopped dropping albums. Then wherever, the South, the West came, linked up, and collected that money for certain amount of years. I just feel like this is going to give everybody some sense of inspiration to come. you got Fab [ olous ] coming. You got more north artists that's gon' come back. you know Red [Cafe] is doing his thing. Maino is doing his thing. This gon' give everybody motivation to put music out, so then, nobody has to sit down and complain." ( Hip Hop Game )
Rap mogul Irv Gotti recently blamed the shady dealings of the music industry with their alleged reliance on what's popular at the moment as contributing to hip-hop's unstable status.
"See, the music business is d*ck riders for the better part," Gotti said in an interview. "I understand that it's logic, I accept it but they're d*ck riders. So they want a Dream beat right now or they want a Polow Da Don or whatever like that. They d*ck riders. And I know and I can say that with the utmost confidence because they d*ck rode me for a large time and I wacked 'em in the head. Murder Inc. got all the hits, everyone's calling me. The illest sh*t I ever did was I made someone pay me $50,000 just to get on the phone. I was an a**hole at the highest level. I said, 'Yo listen man, send me $50k and I'll get on the phone, if not f*ck outta here yo,' I was an a**hole at the highest, yo, a quarter, you heard me, $250,000, I ain't stutter,' click. He sent that paper." (MTV)