The migration of popular mixtapes from today’s top rappers to streaming platforms has left room for error for those who produced the music we adore. This seems to be the case for Joey Bada$$, who has been accused of failing to pay for productions services by Chicago’s brandUn DeShay.
DeShay, who also goes by the music alias of Ace Hashimoto, took to Reddit Wednesday (March 20) to share the lack of communication he’s had with the Brooklyn’s rapper camp over unpaid services. The songs in question are “School High” and “Last Cypher,” tracks that were included on Pro Era‘s breakout compilation mixtape, Peep the Aprocalpyse. Originally released in 2012, the project featured members of the popular posse like Nyck Caution, Kirk Knight and the late Capital STEEZ.
Posted on the Hip Hop Heads channel, DeShay acknowledges the beats were free considering they were on free projects. With the move to platforms like Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music, the producer explained how he wasn’t contacted for clearances or payment.
“I never asked for bread because technically no one was getting paid,” he said. “Until recently (December 12/23/18) Joey re-released the PEEP the Aprocalypse mixtape on all streaming platforms. Therefore generating bread off streams and DID NOT ask my permission, did not do splits or even work out a deal to just buy my share of the publishing from me.”
“I hate takin s**t like this public cuz usually I think that s**t is corny asf,” he added. “But I’m still tryna avoid taking this to court to retrieve the [payment]. I hope Joey reaches back so we can figure this out… the “producer x rapper” relationship in Hip-Hop deserves some success stories.”
Prior to his Reddit post, DeShay posted his frustrations on Twitter back in February.
https://twitter.com/acehashimoto/status/1098791440765743104
VIBE reached out to DeShay who declined to provide a statement on the matter. We also reached out to Joey, who hasn’t responded at the time of the DeShay, who was also an original member of Odd Future, has produced the early projects of numerous acts like SZA, Chance The Rapper and Curren$y.
DeShay went on to share how he had a proper business dealing with the late Mac Miller when it came to his debut mixtape, Macadelic.
“He contacted me first about “Aliens Fighting Robots” and sent me paperwork!!!,” he said. “We agreed on a price, permissions, splits and that was it. Everyone went home happy and you can now stream Macadelic on Spotify rn. Mac Miller handled his business properly. Be like Mac Miller.”
Like DeShay previously stated, the relationship between rappers and producers has always been rooted in miscommunications and questionable deals. Producers like Kenny Beats and Bangladesh have expressed their frustrations over unpaid beats, specifically Bangladesh when it comes to his work with Lil Wayne. With streaming becoming a profitable tool for all aspects of song creation, the relationship should be mended sooner than later.
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