Rap Radar broke this story earlier today. About how Gavin Marchand, younger brother of rapstress Foxy Brown (Inga Marchand) was “busted in New York last week for possessing a forged credit card and running a $8,000 tab at Hermes . If convicted he’s looking at 15 years behind bars.” They got the full story from that gossip tabloid they call the Daily Post.
I used to rep Gavin. He’s a good cat, always a bit reckless, but that’s Brooklyn for you. His whole fam is cool, older brother Anton has got to be one of the most stand up dudes I’ve ever met in the music industry. Anton was an a&r at Sony, specifically for the Track Masters. He later moved on to work at Interscope. I started working with Gav after he produced that heat seeker of a track which later became Nas’ ‘Hate Me Now’ (feat. Puff). A lotta cats don’t know Gav produced it. If you listen to the original track, it was his voice on the hook that Puff later recorded over. Problem was he recorded in this dude D-Moet’s studio. Long story short, D-Moet got top billing credit producer and royalty wise because he had a bigger producer name. Initially, D didn’t want to share any credit, the whole thing almost came to a lawsuit. Gav eventually settled for partial credit. Looking back now, I should have advised him to fight the damned thing all the way.
The good thing about Gav’s involvement though, was that he had caught the eye of then record exec Steve Stoute. Gav wanted to follow in his sister’s footsteps and become a rapper. He was okay, decent at most, but as a producer and artist, Stoute looked at signing Gav, whose rap name was Pretty Boy, as a good investment. Stoute worked at Interscope, the home that Jimmy Iovine built. When Interscope sent the contracts over, it was a moderate deal, not that much money at all. Understandably so. Problem was Steve then was kind of a greedy cat. On top of the deal being small, meaning that the monies Gav was to receive wasnt that great, Stoute wanted a kick back, something like 15 or 25k from the monies that were supposed to go into Gav’s pocket. When I heard what Steve was tryning to do, plus counting the money Gav was going to have to pay me, I said “Fuck That”. Shit wasn’t kosher. I went to bat for my client. Got Stoute on the phone, asked him if Iovine knew about his “kickback”. “Steve, if Jimmy is approving this, and I want him to say it to me personally, then I’ll approve, but if Jimmy doesnt know about this, this can’t fly man.” Steve was pissed, especially since he was very well respected amonsgt the top execs in the game. He even managed NaS at the time. On the phone, Steve tried to belittle me, asking me who my other clients were at the time. One of my business partners was in my office and decided he’d eff with Steve by shouting into my speaker phone “Your mother!!!!”. Steve didn’t like that. Not one effin bit. The phone conversation was immediately over. Dude ended up not liking me either. Surprisingly though, we did the deal without Stoute getting a red cent of kick back paper.
The day after Gav’s Interscope deal check cleared, he came by my midtown office in his spanking new red Ferrari. Insisted that I take a spin with him. I didn’t like the way Gav spent 95% of his check on a car, or how the bottom of the whip would scrape against the streets of Manhattan whenever we would hit a bump or pothole. Still, he was a kid, and was thrilled that the night before, Jay-Z had seen him in his new toy and complimented him on how hard he was stunting.
Eventually the deal died, no Pretty Boy records were ever released. The Ferrari came and went. Funny thing is a couple of years later, I ended moving on the very same block as the Marchands. Across the street. Incredibly sweet mother who believed in economic empowerment for her community. I’ve since moved off, but whenever I drive through I often stop and build with Gavin, with Anton. Anton is one of the realest in the game, please respect that man.
As I’m reading this news story, I’m hoping it’s all bs, their moms has been through more than enough with all the drama that’s surrounded Fox Boogie Brown from day uno. The best to you Gav, keep your head up B.
Funny shit about this story is now that Stoute is this big time marketing exec, partners with Jay-Z in their Translation Advertising Agency, I think with almost certainty that dude is still holding a grudge against me. I saw him recently, walking in the street. I called his name, just on gp, dude looked at me and tried to keep walking like he dint know me. I called his name louder, made sure he heard me, saw me, give me a hand shake. I swear he looked very uncomfortable, like I was an enemy, or like he had still been holding on to a grudge from like over 10 years back. Smh, this is only business yo, it’s only business. Pssshhhhh.
And if I’m lying, then I’m dying.
Blaow!
About Combat Jack
Attorney, author and radio personality Reggie Ossé is an established authority in all things urban entertainment. He is considered the first in today’s new wave of savvy attorneys well versed and nurtured in Urban, Hip Hop and Popular culture. He is the author of “Bling, The Hip Hop Jewelry Book”, a cultural anthropology coffee table book which provides an in depth and entertaining study of man’s fascination with jewelry spanning back to the birth of civilization.
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