Renowned hip-hop producer and DJ Madlib has launched legal proceedings against his former manager, Eothen “Egon”Alapatt, citing significant mismanagement and violation of fiduciary responsibilities.
On October 31, 2024, Otis Lee Jackson Jr., better known in the music industry as Madlib, filed a lawsuit against Alapatt in a Los Angeles court. This legal action, covered by Billboard, alleges that Alapatt engaged in “mismanagement”and took advantage of his managerial position to unlawfully benefit from the producer’s music catalog and merchandise operations, along with various other claims.
The court documents reveal that Alapatt began his professional relationship with Otis around 2010, following the latter’s departure from Stones Throw Records, where Alapatt held an executive role.
To provide some context, Otis Lee Jackson Jr. is a multi-talented American record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper, celebrated for his innovative contributions to hip-hop and diverse musical style. Notable albums he has produced include Madvillainy, Piñata, Shades of Blue, Champion Sound, and Yessir Whatever.
Understanding Madlib’s lawsuit against former manager Egon Alapatt
On Thursday, Madlib officially filed a lawsuit against Eothen Alapatt in a Los Angeles courtroom. According to legal documents accessed by Billboard, the celebrated artist entrusted Alapatt with overseeing two of his business endeavors: Madicine Show and Rapp Cats.
Unfortunately, the acclaimed producer claims he has recently uncovered evidence indicating that Alapatt mismanaged these ventures and participated in egregious self-dealing. The legal filing alleges that Alapatt withheld essential information, consistently violated his fiduciary obligations to Madlib, and demonstrated a recurrent pattern of mismanagement that harmed the businesses.
“EGON not only failed to fulfill these responsibilities but also engaged in blatant self-dealing, keeping Madlib in the dark while continually breaching his duties and engaging in persistent mismanagement,”the legal documents state.
Furthermore, the lawsuit contends that Alapatt set up his subsidiary label, Now-Again, to act as a middleman in Madlib’s management contracts concerning music, licensing, and merchandising.
This arrangement allegedly allowed Alapatt to generate personal revenue through a management structure that ultimately harmed the record producer.
“[Alapatt] has refused to provide Madlib with a breakdown of how he and Now-Again have profited from this arrangement or to present any formal agreement between the two parties,”the lawsuit asserts.
Moreover, as reported by Variety, the lawsuit claims that Alapatt held complete authority over Madlib’s businesses and finances while failing to maintain transparent records and accounting practices.
The lawsuit also highlights Alapatt’s failure to create clear legal distinctions between his various roles in managing the Californian artist’s creative, business, merchandising, and label operations.
According to Variety, the legal action references forensic analyses of the producer’s financial transactions, which revealed numerous accounting discrepancies from 2018 through mid-2022.
“A forensic audit commissioned by Madlib … uncovered multiple accounting errors, in addition to a complete lack of supporting documentation for … most incoming deposits into the entities’ bank accounts, totaling several million dollars,”the lawsuit alleges.
Additionally, reports from Variety indicate that Alapatt is facing a different lawsuit, filed in late 2023 by Jasmine Dumile Thompson, who accused him of taking advantage of the late rapper MF DOOM.
The lawsuit states that Alapatt unlawfully kept 31 notes containing lyrics and songs by MF DOOM while attempting to reclaim ownership. However, Alapatt insists he acquired these notes from DOOM’s studio landlord as payment for unpaid rent, stating he intends to donate them to a hip-hop archive.
According to Complex, Alapatt has allegedly instructed the attorney and accountant involved in Madlib’s finances to avoid cooperating with Madlib’s new legal and financial representatives.
As of now, Alapatt has not responded to the lawsuit.
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