It looks like J. Prince won’t let a little thing like a court order stop him from weighing in on the contract dispute between Megan Thee Stallion and 1501 Certified Entertainment. The Houston rap impresario called Roc Nation “culture vultures” who tried to “poach” Megan from 1501 Certified in a series of posts on Instagram. He also called out Jay-Z for allowing Megan and Roc Nation to include him in the temporary restraining order she filed against 1501 to prevent them from blocking the release of her new project, Suga.
According to Prince, the “root” of the issue is class conflict between independent and major record labels. “We as independent record labels make many sacrifices along with our artists,” he wrote. “After we do all the hard work together with artists, it’s a known fact that major record labels and established managers attempt to poach the fruits of our labor.”
The first way major labels do this, he said, is by “criticiz[ing] the deal that raised that artist from the dead.” In Prince’s eyes, this is what happened with Megan, who asked to renegotiate her deal after signing to Roc Nation’s management arm. “These record labels and managers don’t want shit to do with these artists until the hard work, risk, sacrifices, and resources have been spent by the little guys,” Prince elaborated. “This is the same technique of the culture vultures.”
He also pondered Jay-Z’s role in the Roc Nation moves, because of the two moguls’ history of working together. “I find it very interesting that Roc Nation would allow their employee to sign an affidavit and statement full of slanderous lies on my methods of doing business when we have partnered together on several occasions,” he admitted. “I don’t think Jay Z is aware of this but only time will tell.”
He concluded his screed in a separate post asserting that Megan loved Carl Crawford, 1501’s founder, until Roc Nation’s lawyers turned her against him. “The homie Carl was an angel in Megan’s eyes when he was spending hundreds of thousands investing in her career,” he says. “Now that he’s helped her become a successful artist she stopped paying him his percentage and views him as the devil.”
Late yesterday, a judge ruled that 1501’s request to dissolve the restraining order was denied, allowing Megan to release Suga as planned on March 6.
