By Kenneth R. Pybus
\nOriginally published in the Houston Business Journal, December 22, 1996<\/p>\n
Houston recording studio Rap-A-Lot Records Inc. has settled a $28 million lawsuit filed last year by a teen-age rapper who claimed the studio failed to pay him for performances and an album he recorded when he was 13 years old.<\/p>\n
Now 16, Cedric White, who performed under the name 2 Low, filed the suit in federal court 18 months ago, accusing the company and its executives of fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.<\/p>\n
An attorney for Rap-A-Lot President James Smith Tuesday confirmed the studio settled the case but declined to discuss terms of the agreement.<\/p>\n
Houston lawyer Andrew Jefferson, who represented Smith and various Rap-A-Lot affiliate companies named in the suit, referred questions about the case to state Rep. Ron Wilson, attorney for White and his mother, Cloteal Gardner.<\/p>\n
Wilson last week refused to talk about the case.<\/p>\n
“I can’t answer any questions on anything,” Wilson said. “There’s nothing I can say on that.”<\/p>\n
The case was set for trial next month.<\/p>\n
According to the lawsuit, White was 12 years old when he met two Rap-A-Lot officers at a Hiram Clarke-area apartment complex, where the recording company operated a studio. White already aspired to become a rap musician and began practicing regularly at the studio, where he met Smith and Thomas Randle, who operates Rap-A-Lot’s talent management company.<\/p>\n
The company’s officers and various Rap-A-Lot artists encouraged White’s interest in rap music, the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n
“They promised to help him do better in school, to show him how to stay out of trouble and to make him a successful rapper who would be famous and make lots of money,” according to court documents.<\/p>\n
When he was 13, White moved in with Randle, who agreed to serve as the manager of White’s career, the lawsuit claims. And in late 1992, White signed an artist’s recording agreement with two Rap-A-Lot companies at the suggestion of Randle and Smith.<\/p>\n
For the next few months, the suit says, White began recording at Rap-A-Lot studios and, coauthored six rap tunes, including “Here We Go,” “Boo Ya” and “Everyday Thang.” White also wrote and recorded two songs himself.<\/p>\n
The suit says White also performed at live concerts and night clubs in about 23 states, where hats, T-shirts and other memorabilia with the 2 Low stage name were sold. However, the lawsuit claims White never was paid for his performances nor received any royalties.<\/p>\n
White performed on a number of albums recorded by Rap-A-Lot contract artists, including such rap standouts as the Geto Boys, Mr. Scarface and Odd Squad; recorded a music video with Mr. Scarface and appeared on the soundtrack for the movie “Jason’s Lyric.”<\/p>\n
And in early 1994, Rap-A-Lot and California recording studio Priority Records Inc., also a defendant in the suit, released a 2 Low album called “Funky Lil Brotha” on which White performed six songs he wrote or co-wrote and six others.<\/p>\n
The recording company had filed a petition in Harris County Probate Court in late 1993 seeking to have a guardian appointed for White so that his recording contracts could be approved. But in mid-1994, the probate court issued an order voiding the recording agreement and management agreement White had signed when he was 12.<\/p>\n
White and his mother entered into negotiations directly with Priority Records. However, that company cut off negotiations in early 1995, in part they say because of interference by Rap-A-Lot executives. White has not recorded since.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit claims “Funky Lil Brotha” was mildly successful in its market, selling more than 150,000 compact disks and tapes within the first nine months of release. The suit says Rap-A-Lot’s sales of the album were more than $1 million.<\/p>\n
While the settlement figures are not available, White and Gardner initially sued for $2.5 million for fraud, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent misrepresentation, $6 million for tortious interference with White’s business relationship with Priority Records and $20 million in punitive damages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Kenneth R. Pybus Originally published in the Houston Business Journal, December 22, 1996 Houston recording studio Rap-A-Lot Records Inc. has settled a $28 million lawsuit filed last year by a teen-age rapper who claimed the studio failed to pay him for performances and an album he recorded when he was 13 years old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1495,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-examples"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1495"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}