J. Prince Jr., the talent scout who introduced Drake to Lil Wayne, claims he hasn’t received royalties due to him.
Before Lil Wayne made headlines signing Drake to Young Money, it was talent scout James “Jas” Prince Jr. who first saw the potential in the Toronto MC. And now the young Houston executive wants what he claims is his just due.
The New York Daily News reported that Jas Prince, son of Rap-a-Lot CEO J. Prince, has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court against Drake’s management team for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. In total, there are 10 claims against Drizzy’s manager Cortez Bryant, Gerald “Gee” Roberson, Derrick Lawrence and the firm Aspire Music Group LLC.
It’s well-known that it was Prince who first introduced Drake to the team over at Young Money after hearing his music on MySpace. “One day while leavin the [mall], I just threw [Drake’s] CD in and let it play,” Prince told music-industry veteran Al Lindstrom in an April interview.
“[Lil Wayne] was like, ‘Wait … who is this?’ and I was like, ‘Drake … the guy I been tellin’ you about.’ Wayne told me to book him on the next flight to Houston.”
From there, Drizzy released his 2009 breakout mixtape, So Far Gone,then became a household name with platinum albums Thank Me Laterand his latest, Take Care, but Prince says he hasn’t been paid what is owed to him. In the lawsuit, Prince alleges that Bryant verbally agreed to pay a portion of the profits earned from Drake’s deal with Young Money, a deal that Bryant facilitated.
Prince’s attorney, James McMillan, said his client hasn’t received any money in over a year. In his papers, Prince claims that Drake is also being cheated by his management team and says that the Young Money standout is “on the brink” of suing Aspire and Bryant himself.
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