They pop bottles all night long and “make it rain” at the skrip club but an explosive investigative report from CBS Atlanta reveals that a few big name Atlanta producers have been bilking the little guys that help them make those millions of dollars that they floss so much.
Jazze Pha, Polow Da Don and Young Jeezy are all named in the report initiated by recording engineers who say they have unpaid invoices and court judgments going back years!
Recording engineer Tony Terrebonne supplied a CBS Atlanta investigative reporter with a Gwinnett County court judgment against Polow Da Don, showing he owes more than $20,000 in unpaid studio services and attorneys fees.
Terrebonne said $8,0000 of that is for his work on the Chris Brown hit ?Forever.? Terrebonne provided an invoice that shows he is owed $480 for Usher?s ?Love In The Club.?
Terrebonne said he has stopped working for Polow because he was owed $50,000 at one point.
?It’s a lot of hard work, I’ll be up for three days straight and I won’t get paid for it. It’s insane,? said Terrebonne who moved in with his parents and sold his car.
Polow?s company, Zone 4, responded to the allegations through a statement to CBS which read:
?Polow always handles all of his business vendors with the utmost respect and timely payment, but this situation is a unique private dispute and as such Polow will not dignify any celebrity smear campaign by comment.?
In other words… ‘I didn’t pay him but I have a mighty good reason’.
But wait… there’s more!
Watch CBS Atlanta “Investigative Report” Video
You?re listening to music that hasn?t been paid for. I?m not sure why they?re not paying because a lot of these guys are multi-millionaires.
Invoices and judgments show singer and producer Phalon Alexander (aka Jazze Pha) owes over $135,000 to at least four studios including Zac Recording.
Jim Zumpano, owner of Zac, contacted CBS Atlanta about his issue because he said he is tired of his colleagues ?getting dogged.?
The music stars ?are out partying on my money,? said Zumpano. ?I’m looking for that money to help me run my business.?
After CBS Atlanta began inquiring about the unpaid debts, several recording engineers mysteriously received payments.
Butler received $20,000 from YJ Entertainment, Young Jeezy?s company and Zumpano received about $2,000 from TSG Financial Management on behalf of Jazze Pha.
Other producers, singers and managers would not explain why the payments were not made until CBS Atlanta began their investigative report.
The music industry is a shady business and I’m not surprised in the least that it took putting people on blast to get paid. I still know quite a few people who are STILL waiting on their dough.
Yung Joc said it best (over a Nitti beat)…
Hopefully next time, it won’t take an investigative reporter to prompt these dudes to pay their bills… SMH!
Click HERE to read the full article over at CBS Atlanta.