As previously reported, a producer by the name of Chauncey Mahan (who Just Blaze later revealed is simply an engineer and was “never the brightest”) was detained by police over the weekend after Jay Z’s camp accused him of extortion. Apparently, he stole the masters to Volume 3 and Dynasty, and is attempting to charge them a “storage fee” to get them back.

Now Chauncey is speaking out to clear his name, and says he didn’t steal anything. According to Chauncey, Jay’s previous label Def Jam asked him to keep track of the recordings in 2002 because no one else was doing it. “[Jay Z] was a stupid kid smoking blunts,” he explained, adding that he was reckless with his intellectual property, so he was simply doing him a favor. He says in the last decade, he’s tried numerous times to get in contact with Hov and let him know he had the masters, but no one ever replied. He finally asked for money because he “could no longer afford to keep the masters in storage.” Police have since taken possession of the tapes until a judge can determine rightful ownership.

Marisa Mendez

Source: TMZ