Jay Z Master Recordings Extortion Plot Investigated

Jay Z and a collection of some of his master recordings are in the middle of an extortion investigation. The masters were recorded between 1998 and 2002 are valued somewhere between fifteen and twenty million dollars. The police have already taken possession of the tapes which led to the extortion investigation. A producer named Chauncey Mahan is somehow connected and was questioned by police this past weekend.

As the story goes, Jay-Z and other artists who were signed to Roc-A-Fella Records recorded tons and tons of master recordings in the four year span. The masters went missing some time in 2002 which around the same time Mahan stopped working with the label. However, when the masters went missing everyone assumed they were lost and never thought they were stolen.

In present times, the producer Chauncey Mahan had several of the master recordings in a storage facility in Northridge, California. Mahan supposedly got in contact with Live Nation–Jay Z’s partner in Roc Nation– and told them he would put the tapes up for auction or give Live Nation the tapes for a hundred thousand dollar “storage fee.” Mahan was eventually talked down to $75,000.

Chauncey Mahan went to the storage facility to close the deal with Jay’s people, but they had called the authorities. When the LAPD showed up to the storage facility, Mahan was detained and agreed to head to the police station for questioning. Mahan also allowed the police to place the tapes in  their possession until true ownership could be determined.

Chauncey Mahan was not officially arrested. The Beverly Hills police are investigating the alleged extortion plot because rthat’s where Live Nation is based. Back in New York City, Jay Z’s camp has filed a grand larceny complaint and the NYPD is opening an investigation.

The moral of the story: don’t mess with Jay Z’s stuff. Period.