Chingy Is In Hot Water Over Broken Record Deal
Thursday June 08, 2006 @ 06:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Chingy

St. Louis rapper Chingy is being taken to court for allegedly breaking a recording contract.

Ronald R. Gavin is suing Chingy (real name Howard E. Bailey) and the Trak Starz production team for more than $250,000 U.S. in damages and at least $25,000 in related legal fees. He claims that Chingy had a deal with his label, 49 Productions Inc., but broke it to sign with Track Starz and enter a joint venture agreement with Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace label and Capitol Records.

Gavin claims that he discovered Chingy, not Trak Starz principals Alonzo "Zo" Lee Jr. and Shamar "Sham" Daugherty. His suit alleges that Chingy (who was then going by the name H. Thugzy) signed a deal with him in 1999 that gave him "exclusive services for the production and recording" of the rapper's material. Chingy signed with Disturbing Tha Peace in 2002.

Gavin claims that he spent upwards of $100,000 over three years to polish Chingy's image and cultivate his career. Gavin further alleges that he was responsible for booking Chingy's earliest gigs and met with radio programmers to get his music on the air. Gavin claims that he produced an album for Chingy and had started working on a second one before the hip-hop star jumped ship.

The suit claims that Trak Starz encouraged Chingy to sign a separate contract in 2002 under a promise of a Ludacris hook-up. Trak Starz produced Chingy's major label debut, Jackpot, which has sold close to three million copies.

Chingy's third album, Hood Star, is expected this summer.

—Eva Lampert