Jim Jones is facing legal action from a producer amid allegations the hip-hop star stole rap beats and used them on his last collaborative album, A TRIBUTE TO BAD SANTA.
Producer Ivory Keys has filed a lawsuit against Jones and E1 Music - the label formerly known as Koch Records - alleging the Byrd Gang star has failed to properly compensate and credit Keys for his work on the 2008 festive rap album, which also features the Skull Gang and comedian Mike Epps.
Keys' spokesperson Deonta Cummings tells HipHopDX.com, "Jim stole my producer's beats along with every other producer on the project by mastering the MP3s without written or oral permission.
"Ivory produced (the song) Byrd Gang Christmas, and (Jones) mastered every song using only MP3s of the instrumentals, and has not paid anyone a penny. His manager Yandi Smith has been lying telling everyone that they are still waiting on Koch to pay the budget... (They) said it would have been taken care of by the end of January.
"I called up Koch and talked to numerous people who then said they had paid Jim Jones and Jones Family Productions the entire budget months ago, and that part of that money was supposed to be allocated for production."
And Cummings is convinced Jones will continue to treat producers in a similar way in the future: "This was supposed to be Ivory's first placement (credited as a producer). Chris Luck, Jim's assistant, hype man and beat collector, called me wanting sessions for four beats, so I can assure you those three other tracks will show up on other Byrd Gang/Skull Gang albums."