On Wednesday (July 1), various Hip-Hop websites began reporting that DJ Big Mike's home in Connecticut was raided by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
The RIAA represents most of the countries record labels and music distributors. In fact approximately 85% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United State are represented by the RIAA. In recent years the RIAA has been cracking down on mixtape DJ's who sell music that they are not licensed to sell.
Rumors began buzzing Wednesday (July 1) afternoon, as websites reported a raid similar to the one that targeted Atlanta based DJ Drama in January 2007. In Big Mike's case early reports said about $200,000 in cash and 15,000 mix CDs were seized from his Danbury, Connecticut home.
In response to these accusations, Big Mike, whose real name is Mike Wilcox said, "The story is completely bogus. While I do have a prior legal situation I can't speak on, I can say today's claim is absolutely false."
The RIAA has yet to make a comment on these claims.
On January 16, 2007, DJ Drama and DJ Cannon were arrested on racketeering charges after a raid of the Atlanta offices of Aphilliates Music Group by the RIAA. Authorities seized nearly 81,000 CDs and held both Drama and Cannon at Fulton County jail on charges of racketeering. They were released the following day on $100,000 signature bonds. Drama's tour van was put up for sale on an online police auction site, by the city of Morrow, GA. Charges against Drama and Don Canon are still pending.
- By T. Freeman Jr.
