Jay Z Alleged Extortion Plot Over $20 Mil Recordings
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A collection of Jay Z master recordings -- valued between $15 and $20 MILLION -- is at the center of an alleged theft and extortion plot ... and TMZ has learned, police have already nabbed the tapes.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a producer named Chauncey Mahan -- who worked with Jay Z from 1998-2002 -- was questioned Friday in connection with the alleged plot.
Here's the backstory ... Jay Z's Roc-A-Fella Records recorded a boatload of master recordings between 1998 - 2002. We're told in 2002 the masters went missing -- Jay Z and his people assumed they were lost.
Fast forward to this past Friday. Mahan apparently had a number of the masters in his Northridge, CA storage facility. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Mahan allegedly contacted Live Nation -- which has a joint venture with Jay Z called Roc Nation -- and said he would either let the tapes go up for auction or give them the tapes for a $100K "storage fee." We're told Mahan eventually agreed to take $75K.
" I SAVED Jay Z's Recordings!!! He Was a Stupid Kid Smoking Blunts"
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Jay Z should be THANKING the producer he's accused of extortion -- or so the guy claims, telling TMZ, if it weren't for him ... the recordings he's allegedly holding for ransom would have been lost or destroyed ... because Jay Z was an irresponsible pothead back in the day.
TMZ broke the story ... Chauncey Mahan was detained by police Friday after Jay Z's people accused him of stealing the master recordings for several big songs back in 2002 -- and then trying to hold them for ransom -- a $100,000 "storage fee."
But Chauncey insists the allegations are BS -- telling TMZ, he didn't steal jack ... Def Jam asked him to keep track of the recordings in 2002 because no one else was doing it. According to Chauncey, Jay Z "was a stupid kid smoking blunts" who was reckless with his intellectual property.Chauncey says he asked for $100,000 to compensate him for keeping the recordings safe for 12 years. FYI, the masters are for Jay Z's "Volume 3" and "Dynasty" albums -- including huge songs like "Big Pimpin" and "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)."
not the producer saying Jay-Z should be thanking him