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This past weekend, Yung Joc told Billboard.com that he has made the decision to file a lawsuit against Bad Boy Records and Block Entertainment for their failure to fulfill contractual obligations, including neglecting to pay royalties and advances for his previous two albums, and charging “outrageous clearance fees” for collaborations with other artists.
“I haven’t been paid any royalties since I’ve been out, after over a million albums sold,” Yung Joc told Billboard.com. “For my first album, they gave me a $25,000 advance when I was supposed to get more…Then I had a million dollar budget for my second album, never even got an advance off of it. For the third one they hit me with another $25,000, like I’m some chump in this shit. And I just got tired of it.”
Joc expressed his anger and disappointment over Bad Boy’s lack of support in dealing with the situation. “Diddy said he’s got to stay out of it because it’s between me and Block Entertainment. I was never signed to Block Entertainment, but they’ve been interfering with a lot of my business. I feel like [Bad Boy] isn’t doing anything to try to intervene and help the situation.”
With the upcoming release of his third album, Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood (which will feature fellow southern artists Rick Ross, Gucci Mane, Bobby Valentino, and Jazze Pha), the rapper is considering promoting the project without the help of Bad Boy. “I’m not gonna let anybody slow me down. I’m just gonna go in and use some independent record promoters to promote my record.”
Plans of utilizing indie promoters may seem a daunting task after his sophomore effort, Hustlenomic$ sold only 210,000. The number is a stark contrast from the 968,000 copies that his debut album, New Joc City, sold. In any case, Yung Joc has expressed that a lawsuit against Bad Boy and Block Entertainment is necessary.
“I’m not even griping; I’m just letting it be known that what’s fair is fair, and I haven’t been treated fairly. I’ve been fighting for a year and a half. I’m prepared to weather the storm. So they could kiss my ass, and let’s go to court.”
Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood is slated for release in late 2009.
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