NEW YORK - A record producer has sued rappers 50 Cent and Lil' Kim and two record companies for $2 million, claiming they failed to pay him royalties on a song that sold 2 million copies.
Carlos Evans says in papers filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court he contracted with Rotten Apple Records in January 2003 to produce, engineer and mix a rap track called "Magic Stick" to be performed by 50 Cent and Lil' Kim.
Evans, of Staten Island, says he was to get a $7,500 advance and royalties for working on the song. His court papers say that he was paid the advance and nothing else and that his requests for a royalties audit have been ignored.
Evans, 36, said Thursday the song track first was intended for 50 Cent's breakout album, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," but instead became a track on Lil' Kim's 2003 album, "La Bella Mafia," which was recorded and distributed by Atlantic Records.
The "Magic Stick" single hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the compact disc album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, Evans said.
"It was one of the hottest tracks on that album, and I didn't collect my royalties," said Evans, who calls himself "Phantom of the Beat" and says he has worked for rap acts Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang Clan and Ghostface Killah.
Rotten Apple Records lawyer Theodore Sedlmayr, speaking for the company and 50 Cent, said the late royalty problems arose because Evans put a large sample of someone else's music in "Magic Stick" and the segment had to be licensed and paid for.
"Atlantic is trying to get it straightened out," Sedlmayr said. "If after the accounting Mr. Evans is entitled to anything, he'll get it then."
A spokeswoman for Atlantic said Thursday that the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.
Evans' lawsuit, filed Wednesday, seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.
