Jay-Z's in some trouble.
What it means: Jay-Z's already been in the papers for some economics controversies recently: Rocawear, the clothing brand he founded in 1999 and sold to a company called Iconix in 2007, is being investigated for false financial reporting, and he was asked to testify in court. His lawyer said no – he was just a guy who made a sale, they said, and what the company did after that was none of this business.
Now, he's back in the headlines, this time for being accused of withholding royalties from Raynard Herbert, who mastered and arranged distributions for Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996.
Royalties are a percentage of the profit from a piece of work which the creator agrees to pay the people involved in production – whether that's a publisher, agent, or in this case, distributor. Herbert says he received his share til 2008, but then the checks just stopped coming.
1% might not seem like much: but given Reasonable Doubt has sold over 2 million copies, it's a lotta cash. Jay-Z's spokespeople haven't commented on the allegations: they're actually wrapped up in a similar case with the Weinstein Company at the moment, except in that one it's Jay-Z accusing Weinstein of not paying him for producing a few tracks.
