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Rappers in trouble with the law

Artist, musicians, and entertainers throughout the industry never think about legal issues until something happens and they're sitting in court defending themselves. Lawsuits can make or break a successful business/artist and recreate the direction they are pursuing. 



There are so many rappers in trouble with the law. In October of 2010, promoter Carl Davis filed a lawsuit against rapper Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., better known by his stage name T.I. It was explained that Davis and Jervon Morgan, T.I.'s first cousin and agent, had put together an agreement for a welcome back party for the artist who had been in prison on weapon charges the previous year. Davis also met with Jason Geter, CEO of Grand hustle LLC, and made a payment of $50,000 into a bank account held by the rapper. Davis said he made the payment even though the rapper, T.I., was on 3 years of home confinement. Later that month after T.I. went on a radio broadcast station stating that he would not be performing at the upcoming welcome back party, Davis suffered a financial lost due to sells, emotional distress, and hospitalization. Davis is suing for misrepresentation, promissory fraud, conspiracy, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract. In this case, if I were the artist I would apologize and offer to reschedule the concert and hopefully work out things in a more professional manner.




Snoop Dogg, (Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr) is usually known for going to court on procession of illegal substances, but in 2005 he appeared in a California court for assault and battery on an audience member at one of his concerts. Richard Moore says he was hit with a microphone and brutally beaten behind stage after he jumped on stage to touch the rapper. Jurors were also shown a videotape of the incident. In defense the artist, (Snoop Dogg) stated that he felt he was being attacked when the man suddenly jumped on stage and reacted quickly to the situation. Lawyers also claim Monroe Jr.'s alleged injuries were not "evidence of someone who was savagely beaten." In the end, Richard was suing for $22 million dollars for damages and punitive penalties, but due to no real evidence of the situation, received $440,000 for injuries. I would agree that Snoop's attorney made a great case in explaining how the artist felt that it was a self defense situation and he was only defending himself.





In late news, Lil Wayne is being sued for stealing the "How to Love" beat from rapper Rick Ross, who bought the owner rights of the instrumental from rapper and producers Drummer Boyz. In addition, Rick Ross is also suing Drummer Boyz for going behind his back and pitching the song to Lil Wayne. This lawsuit is based on who owns the rights to the beat whether it be a written or oral contract. Even if Rick Ross doesn't have a written contract for the sale of the master recordings, there's still a chance that he will prevail in this case. In my opinion I feel that it's best a producer remember to include a contract with everything being produced or sold. Therefore, when a situation like this arises, the producer has the proper resources to show who owns the intellectual property. 

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Kirk Imamura

Tuesday I attended Kirk Imamura's lecture about running a successful studio. He touched on the who, what, when, where, why, and how concepts of what a person needs to establish a professional studio. He also mentioned that if a person is not determined to lead a pack, then he or she shouldn't think about running their own studio anytime soon.  Kirk has written and produced many songs for artist such as Aaliyah, Eric Clapton Aerosmith, George Benson, and many more.

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Love vs. Music

In the music industry, can an artist/client manage a positive and respectful relationship, as well as build a successful career for themselves?

Building a relationship defines taking the time and commitment out of one's life to discover an unconditional love between themselves and another person. It requires learning and falling in love with everything the significant other has to offer, and building a strong trust within each other; kind of like music. The significant other plays a special role in a persons life because they are represented at the top of the throne above, or along side music. They can also help build the other person's career based on “having your back,” and getting the things that need to be done, done.
A (truly-focused) artist is married to their music. They are focused on producing, advertising, and critiquing their music to its best, so that he or she may publicize well put-together tracks. Nothing can come between an artist and their music except love. Love makes you do stupid things. As an artist, relationships can make or break a career depending on how the artist interacts with the other person.
Artist are known for writing about love and hate that is involved within their relationship. That music can be accepted as an award (compensation) through out the music industry. On a good note, this can improve the artists fan base by relating to stories that other people go through when dealing with relationships. 

I once heard a man say, “If I gave love up, music would repair my soul. But, if I gave music up I wouldn't have a soul. –Anonymous

I feel that music is born in your heart and that love is to be discovered and built within your heart. You can have love for someone, but not be in love with that person. Unlike music, you can dislike a melody, yet fall in love with the instruments that make the composition. In conclusion to answer the question, “In the music industry, can an artist/client manage a positive and respectful relationship as well as build a successful career for themselves?”
I think that if a person feels that he or she can build a relationship with another person, (and the other person know how much work and commitment that an artist/client has to go through to get to the top) than he or she can build a great relationship amongst one another. But, if that person (the significant other) can’t see that it takes commitment to music and trust to a perfection of the relationship, then they (the artist and significant other) should not be in a relationship. 

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