Mary J Blige Says She Owes $25 Million In Advances And Doesn't Own Her Music Catalog

[Rawtid]

Doesn’t surprise me.

 

[Methodical]

In Hollywood (except Mo’nique who refused to tap dance and got blackballed) having even a nomination greatly increases your pay for future roles




We know she’s willing to tap dance

So are you saying Denzel was willing to tap dance?.

Look at Cuba situation.

Oscar = Grammy

Those awards don't mean shyt at all

 

[Ziggiy]

Why didn’t these nikkas listen to Prince? Janet’s the only living legend that owns the rights to all her albums besides Damita Jo

Hov owns his now right?

Nas is in the process of owning his

does RZA own the Masters to Wutang Recordings?

 

[NO-BadAzz]

This is some sad shyt to read. I hope this isn't the case but dayum.

She's at Essence every year.

 

[VladTheImpaler]

May more women of wealth get fleeced in divorce

 

[DamienWayne]

I thought my student loans were bad

 

[h2o_proof]

Mary actually can't read or she was legitimately illiterate at the time she signed her contract.

yeah I remember reading this several years back, it made sense too cuz she STAYED fukking up some song lyrics

What's crazy is that when you're rich and in that much debt you can basically go on living like a millionaire even though you're technically more broke than someone with $200 cash and no debt...

Like I promise that Mary J Blige isn't bouncing between roadway inn rooms and eating frozen meals... Rich people got different rules

basically. Being multi's of million's of dollars in the hole is pretty much the same as being rich cuz whether its the government or a private entity the goal is to put you in positions to recoup the money. you may not have the liquid cash, but you'll have the perks like airfare, hotels & accomodations, meals, wardrobe, etc. and anything else you need. in her case it's placements that help keep her branding and image up and put her in the spotlight so she can manufacture scenarios that produce revenue. same thing the government did with Trump back in the day, helping him secure all those loans even though he was bankrupt

Mary has always headlined these Old school throwback shows...

She is always the main attraction at festivals like Essence when she shows up

But that's just show dough

Little to no dough

When u don't own your masters

And you still owe dough

yo what's the difference between being like $24,960,000.00 in debt and $25,000,000.00 in debt?....

 

[backbreaker65]

If you know anything about wanting to pay any debt or alimony. 1st one must appear insolvent, whether it be true or untrue.

 

[King Poetic]

That's most artists period. You'll see the same thing about these 2000s artists. Lower class black people are a renewable resource of talent. To continue to exploit this resource we have to be kept broke, ignorant, and angry so we don't think clearly

true. your 100% right

but if your a black artist and coming onto the scene especially if u say your grew up on james brown and ray charles music, but especially seeing TLC, new edition in R&B and ruthless records situation with ice cube as younger folks your first order of business is to understand the business and contracts

but a lot of black folks get that i'm out the hood mentality quick and i can buy mama and the cousins anything they want with not understanding anything till 10 to 20 years down the line when family and friends disappear when u broke

 

[Big Boss]

Looking back and it's amazing to see so many black women musicians literally damn near struggling or broke with gold and platinum albums now they in their 30s, 40s and hell early 50s doing chicken circuits or doing jobs working at the bakery factory

Lauren hill broke...don't own her music, marley dump her and the 6 kids.. She got knocked up by some random nikka who left her with another kid...shows up late to her own shows, etc

Toni Braxton... Don't own anything of her music..got divorced left with 2 kids to take care of..was making some money doing a little vegas shows, but her health cause her to quit...then u see her throwing her p*ssy around trying to get attention by kissing up on trey songz...now she was one of the lucky ones to find a dude with money in Baby...but knowing baby she might not even see a dollar and the ring she get might be one of those rings he took from the jewelry store and never made any payments on it

TLC...pebbles fukk them with no Vaseline as well as la reid and babyface...how u sell 15 million copies of album which if u look at the total dollar amount at the time and adding in merchandise sold generated over 150 to 200 million dollars and u only get $30,000 apiece and a fukking jeep... Now they out here struggling with music nobody trying to here 20 years later and chili going around trying to throw p*ssy at Floyd mayweather and white men on that bad show she had....t boz having health issues and out here dating all these athletes who basically just trying to get some old cougar p*ssy.

Claudette Ortiz... U actually heard from her own voice that she's broke and was thinking about joining the military just to get some money and been living off of welfare with 3 kids, 2 by her ex crazy group member and then by some random one night stand nikka.


Majority of the sistas in the 40s,50s,60s was broke and had to use rental dresses to appear at events

Read behind the stories of 90s female chicks..a few in en vogue was broke, swv and a lot of one wonders like changing faces and sparkle..

A lot of these musicians especially our sistas get caught up with the glamour look instead of the financial book until it's too late and they go fight for royalties and end up only getting a nickel of what they earn

 

[Doobie Doo]

I just find it hard to believe that her name doesnt @ least command her a spot on all these old school concerts that the radio stations put on. I mean she got bonefied classics, and she had 15+ years in the game as an active artist. I know shes in debt w/ her label, but I know they can kick her down SOMETHING while concurrently paying the debt off. Hell if Mya, and Ashanti doing they thing still, she should be able to eat

I know Ahshanti and Mya have the visual assets, but damn. Mary got the name

It's like what Envy said when Monique was on. Big Daddy Kane is a legend, but Lil Uzi Vert sells more tickets. I know a few old school cats they can fly to Europe off a couple calls, do a few shows a week in a bunch of foreign towns & countries we never heard of then come back here with 15-30K depending on the stipulations. Legend money in hiphop is enough to sustain you, KRS always packs the small club here, if you willing to travel and license your music but nikkas ain't millionaires off this shyt they doing now so

And you know how Ashanti and Mya get they money when they releasing less music but on IG everyday showing off they goods

 

[Doobie Doo]

Looking back and it's amazing to see so many black women musicians literally damn near struggling or broke with gold and platinum albums now they in their 30s, 40s and hell early 50s doing chicken circuits or doing jobs working at the bakery factory

Lauren hill broke...don't own her music, marley dump her and the 6 kids.. She got knocked up by some random nikka who left her with another kid...shows up late to her own shows, etc

Toni Braxton... Don't own anything of her music..got divorced left with 2 kids to take care of..was making some money doing a little vegas shows, but her health cause her to quit...then u see her throwing her p*ssy around trying to get attention by kissing up on trey songz...now she was one of the lucky ones to find a dude with money in Baby...but knowing baby she might not even see a dollar and the ring she get might be one of those rings he took from the jewelry store and never made any payments on it

TLC...pebbles fukk them with no Vaseline as well as la reid and babyface...how u sell 15 million copies of album which if u look at the total dollar amount at the time and adding in merchandise sold generated over 150 to 200 million dollars and u only get $30,000 apiece and a fukking jeep... Now they out here struggling with music nobody trying to here 20 years later and chili going around trying to throw p*ssy at Floyd mayweather and white men on that bad show she had....t boz having health issues and out here dating all these athletes who basically just trying to get some old cougar p*ssy.

Claudette Ortiz... U actually heard from her own voice that she's broke and was thinking about joining the military just to get some money and been living off of welfare with 3 kids, 2 by her ex crazy group member and then by some random one night stand nikka.


Majority of the sistas in the 40s,50s,60s was broke and had to use rental dresses to appear at events

Read behind the stories of 90s female chicks..a few in en vogue was broke, swv and a lot of one wonders like changing faces and sparkle..

A lot of these musicians especially our sistas get caught up with the glamour look instead of the financial book until it's too late and they go fight for royalties and end up only getting a nickel of what they earn

It's hard to feel sorry for these people cuz there were other contributing factors.

Lauryn Hill was setup to be the next IT GIRL, movies & solo career. I don't know if it was mental illness or just her being sick of the game but she ain't stay on top of her business. I can't say she'd be in this position if she handled her biz as big as the buzz was for Lauryn. People love her so much they STILL put up with her bullshyt at live shows.

Toni bankrupt twice, jumping from rich man to rich man. It's easy to believe she has bad money management and expects a man to save her. Add in health issues where I'm sure she's cancelled shows/tours and yeah money problems pop up.

TLC I do feel bad for because they were just naive and got taken advantage of and pressured. Can't say they deserved it, didn't think they were reckless with money, just bathtubs and lighter fluid.

Claudia was just fine and a ho. NO stand out talent to really speak of. I could see her as another Tinashe, Ashanti etc

 

[HellRell804]

true. your 100% right

but if your a black artist and coming onto the scene especially if u say your grew up on james brown and ray charles music, but especially seeing TLC, new edition in R&B and ruthless records situation with ice cube as younger folks your first order of business is to understand the business and contracts

but a lot of black folks get that i'm out the hood mentality quick and i can buy mama and the cousins anything they want with not understanding anything till 10 to 20 years down the line when family and friends disappear when u broke

It's the arrogance of youth. You see it all the time even on this forum. People think they know better than history. The whole "just because it happened to you don't mean it's gonna happen to me mentality".

Each new generation would rather diss their elders as "old" and "washed" instead of learning from them. And Record companies been handing out slave deals for years unbothered.

 

[Cabbage Patch]

RiRi owns all of her catalog

Receipts?

 

[UpAndComing]

The irony of this situation is she actually RAN to SUGE to help SAVE her from the mob influenced finances her and Jodeci was dealing with at MCA RECORDS..

In which her boss Andre Harrell was nothing more than a puppet for Irving Azoff and Michael Franceze and the Colombo Family.of New York...

Suge always takes pride in standing up for Mary when he was her manager she was in his words...

"Locked in A very fukked up contract"...

Suge tried to get her to come to Death Row..but MCA put out a cease and desist against Suge and Death Row

So MCA promised her they would be able to rectify the situation during the transition into UNIVERSAL RECORDS...

but it was a lie.....

The advances and budget got bigger with little to nothing on the backend and Mary took the bait....

And has been enslaved to the Universal machine ever since..

She tried to break free during her collaboration with Dr Dre ..cause at the time Jimmy Iovine was pursuing her to come to INTERSCOPE/AFTERMATH but Doug Morris refused to sign off on it cause Jimmy couldn't meet Doug's buyout price for Mary contract....

She still feels in debt to Jimmy for his efforts..

It was Jimmy Iovine who took her in after she claims she was homeless last year 2017

Mary J. Blige Breaks Down While Receiving Hollywood Star: 'I Was Homeless Last Year' | EURweb

“When all hell was turning loose in 2016 and I had to file and all of that stuff, I was homeless last year,” she said, adding, “Jimmy Iovine took me in to his Malibu home, he and his beautiful wife, Liberty. I will never forget that.”

Breh. Can you list all of the Mob/Record label type books? They look like interesting reads

Will rep if you do. You can make a thread on it