Legendary hip-hop producer Madlib has filed a lawsuit against his former manager Eothen “Egon” Alapattalleging that the executive abused his role to claim undue profits from Madlib's music and merchandise companies, among other charges.
In a complaint filed Thursday (October 31) in Los Angeles court, Madlib's attorneys say Alapatt began managing Madlib's business affairs around 2010, when the famed producer walked away from his deal with Stones Throw Records – where Alapatt worked as an executive – in an 'Own and Control His Music' effort. At the time, the complaint alleges, Alapatt was fired from Stones Throw.
According to the lawsuit, Madlib trusted Alapatt to create and operate two business entities (“Madicine Show” for his musical interests and “Rapp Cats” for his merchandise) in Madlib's name, with profits from the businesses going to shared between the two parties. . However, Madlib reportedly discovered only recently that Alapatt not only failed to properly run these businesses, but “was also self-serving, withholding information from and repeatedly breaching his duties to Madlib, and otherwise engaging in persistent and pervasive mismanagement ».
The complaint further alleges that Alapatt abused his position by taking “a fee off the top” of all revenue generated by Madlib's record label, Madicine Show, and that he “refused to account to Madlib” for his compensation and failed to provide written agreements with the producer. Madlib's attorneys further allege that Alapatt refused to allow an audit of his own business, Now-Again — which they say Alapatt imported under false pretenses as an intermediary for the Madicine Show and its distributor, Ingrooves — to ascertain the revenue earned from the Madicine Demonstration.
Elsewhere, the complaint alleges Alapatt “directed a single attorney and accountant to represent him” as well as Madlib, Madicine Show, Rapp Cats and Now-Again without Madlib's “informed consent” and then “resulted in this lawyer and accountant to refuse to work with Madlib” and the new professional team that Madlib had assembled after his relationship with Alapatt went south.
The complaint states that Madlib only discovered the extent of Alapatt's alleged wrongdoing in April 2023, when it finally managed, through “forensic accounting,” to learn more about the finances of Madicine Show and Rapp Cats during the period 2018 to mid-2022. His lawyers claim this revealed “several accounting irregularities” and “the lack of any back-up documentation” for several hundred thousand dollars in “consulting services”, “fees”, “fees” or “indemnities”” for Alapatt as well as a second named defendant, Jeffrey Carlsonaka Jeff Jank — an alleged associate of Alapatt who previously worked as an art director at Stones Throw and is described in the complaint as a “member of the Rapp Cats.”
The complaint further alleges that Alapatt took “tens of thousands of dollars for personal expenses” from the two business entities and that there was no employee payroll documentation, inventory or artist rights statements.
Alapatt is also said to “capture[ed] half of Madlib's production royalties and advances to himself” while shutting Madlib out of his Ingrooves, Apple Music, Bandcamp, YouTube and Facebook accounts. The complaint also claims it locked Madlib out of the Instagram account for his trademark alter-ego Quasimoto, a cartoon character the producer used throughout his career for merchandise and music.
“Madlib has since demanded that the Madicine Show and Rapp Cats be liquidated and dissolved and any contractual relationship with these entities be terminated…” the complaint states. “[Alapatt] refuses to do so.” Instead, he claims, Alapatt told Madlib he was welcome to “buy him out of his interest in those entities or the underlying intellectual property.”
Thursday's lawsuit is the second against Alapatt in the last year. Last October, the manager also sued the estate of late Madlib collaborator MF DOOM for allegedly stealing the rapper's notebooks full of lyrics. In response to this lawsuit, Alapatt's lawyers called the case “baseless and libelous” and described it as “the continuation of a year-long smear campaign.”
Madlib's team is seeking a jury trial and a court-supervised liquidation and dissolution of Madicine Show and Rapp Cats, “to include a full and complete accounting of the entities' assets and liabilities [and] determination of any unauthorized remuneration,” among other demands. Madlib is also seeking damages from Alapatt and Now-Again.
Alapatt and his lawyer did not immediately respond Bulletin boardrequests for comment. Carlson also did not immediately return a request for comment.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/madlib-sues-former-manager-mismanagement-financial-self-dealing/
