JAY Z is getting sued over royalties on his classic debut album, 1996's Reasonable Doubt.
Raynard "Ray Rae" Herbert says that he arranged the music on the album for Roc-A-Fella records and had a distribution deal with Priority Records to get 1 percent of the profits.
The first royalty payment that he received was in December of 1998, and they continued for a decade. But after November of 2008, the checks stopped. Herbert reached out to the necessary parties to see where his money was, but he never got a response.
According to Herbert's lawyer Kevon Glickman, his client has no idea how much Jay and Roc-A-Fella owe him at this point, but says "the sum of money is substantial." The album has sold about two million copies worldwide.
Herbert's court filing states that Jay not paying Herbert over a 10-year span is "oppressive [and] fraudulent, committed with malice and in conscious disregard of [the] plaintiff's rights."
Jay's team has yet to make any public statements about the suit. Nor have Roc-A-Fella figures Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, who are also named.
Do you believe Herbert, or is it a case of people trying to dig in the rapper's pockets?