Birdman Sued by Jas Prince Over Unpaid Drake Profits
Jas Prince is reportedly going after Birdman “harder than ever” to procure millions in Drake-related profits. In legal documents obtained and excerpted by TMZ Monday, Prince accuses Birdman and Cash Money co-founder Ronald “Slim” Williams of not awarding him and Aspire Music Group their share of profits.
According to the suit, Birdman isn’t honoring his contractual duty to pay Aspire “one-third of his Drake profits.” Additionally, an exclusive deal Drake signed under Birdman in 2013 also allegedly breached Drake’s initial agreement and forced Aspire to lose $4 million. The suit was filed by Aspire, but TMZ‘s case sources said that Prince is “calling the shots” and now owns a portion of the company. Previously, Prince took legal action against Aspire co-owner Derrick Lawrence.
A copy of the complaint obtained by Pitchfork Monday shows Prince has enlisted attorney Marc Kasowitz, who often represents failing reality TV personality Donald Trump. The suit names Birdman, Slim, Cash Money Records, and Young Money Entertainment. The defendants’ behavior is described in documents as encompassing “brazen and deliberate efforts” by the label and “its unscrupulous principals” to cheat Aspire out of Drake-related money.
In January, a separate suit was filed against Cash Money for Drake profits. In that suit, Aspire claimed to have signed Drake to an exclusive deal back in 2008. The following year, according to the suit, Aspire inked a Cash Money deal for one-third of any “commercial exploitation” profits related to Drake recordings.
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Jas Prince’s father, James Prince, told TMZ last week that he intended to get money owed to both Jas and Lil Wayne. “I’m gonna make them an offer they can’t refuse,” he said. When asked if the money allegedly owed to them might be gone, Prince disagreed. “It has to be somewhere, you know what I mean?” he said. “So wherever it’s at, you know, we have to reach and grab it. Even if it’s in his ass, we’ll have to get it up out of there.”
