Madlib, Producer for Kanye West and Mos Def, Sues Former Manager Over Deceptive Business Practices

variety.com:

Todd Gilchrist editor Madlib, producer for tracks by Kanye West, Mos Def and MF Doom, filed a lawsuit Thursday against Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, former manager of Stones Throw Records and founder of subsidiary label Now-Again.

According to the suit, filed earlier today in the Los Angeles Court, the rapper/producer (real name Otis Lee Jackson Jr.) alleges that Alapatt installed Now-Again as an intermediary entity in existing management deals for Madlib music, licensing and merchandising, and exploited that management structure to bolster revenue for himself and his label. “Not only was EGON not performing these duties, but he was also engaged in rank self-dealing, concealing information from and repeatedly breaching his duties to Madlib, and otherwise engaging in persistent and pervasive mismanagement,” the suit claims.

It also claims that Alapatt maintained complete control of Madlib’s business ventures and finances, while refusing to provide transparent accounting records or appropriate legal barriers between his artistic, business, merchandising and label management endeavors. “A forensic accounting commissioned by Madlib … revealed several accounting irregularities as well as a lack of any backup documentation for, among other things, payments to [Alappat], [codefendant Jeffrey Carlson] and others as ‘consulting,’ ‘commissions,’ ‘fees’ or ‘reimbursements’ (totaling in the several hundred thousands of dollars), the majority of inbound deposits to the two entities’ bank accounts (totaling in the several millions of dollars),” the filing states.