Not too long ago, Eminem admitted he “stole Black music,” but now, he’s the victim of theft. A former employee that worked for the Detroit rapper is accused of stealing and selling Em’s unreleased music for $50,000.
Ex-Employee Who Worked for Eminem Exposed for Stealing Songs
Leaked songs are guilty pleasures in hip-hop. Fans know music dropping without permission hurts their favorite artists in different ways, yet they still want to hear it. Some supporters will even go so far as to band together to come up with enough money to pay the price for coveted leaks after hearing just a snippet on the internet for years. There’s an entire underworld dedicated to it. Chances are, the person leaking the music is most likely coming from the inside, which is what’s happening to Eminem right now.
The feds allege that a man who once worked for Slim Shady took unauthorized music files and tried to sell them on the internet. On Wednesday (March 19), the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan filed a criminal complaint against sound engineer Joseph Strange and charged him with criminal infringement of a copyright and interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to CBS News Detroit.
Strange, 54, worked for Eminem for 14 years, from 2007 to 2021, in a studio in Ferndale, Mich. Only four people—Strange, two other sound engineers and a manager—had access to hard drives at the studio where the Midwest MC’s music was kept. When not in use, the drives were locked away in a safe.
This past January, the FBI received a tip from other Eminem employees that unreleased studio efforts from Marshall Mathers III were circulating on the internet without permission. Those employees also found an image online showing a list of unreleased music the rhymer created, which was taken from a hard drive. That same month, a leaked track titled “Smack You,” in which Eminem dissed Ja Rule and Suge Knight, made its rounds across the internet.
Once the FBI was involved, they tracked down multiple people who bought the unreleased music and learned Strange sold it. A tipster who was an Em fan informed Em’s business associate Fred Nasser of how the songs got out of the artist’s hard drive through messages between the fan tipster and a person using the name Doja Rat.
“Doja Rat claimed that he (Doja Rat) purchased the songs from a man named Joseph Strange, who used to be an employee of Mathers,” the criminal complaint reads. “Doja Rat claimed to have paid Joseph Strange approximately $50,000 for the music.” The money was allegedly going to fund Strange’s recent surgery for an undisclosed reason.
A longtime spokesperson for Eminem provided this statement to XXL regarding the FBI investigation:
“Eminem and his team are very appreciative of the efforts by the FBI Detroit bureau for its thorough investigation which led to the charges against Joe Strange. The significant damage caused by a trusted employee to Eminem’s artistic legacy and creative integrity cannot be overstated, let alone the enormous financial losses incurred by the many creators and collaborators that deserve protection for their decades of work. We will continue to take any and all steps necessary to protect Eminem’s art and will stop at nothing to do so.”
When FBI agents searched Joseph Strange’s home on Jan. 28, they found several original hand-written lyric sheets and notes from Eminem, a VHS tape with unreleased music and hard drives with some of the Grammy winner’s music and some of the artists who worked with him.
Strange faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of criminal infringement of copyright. Interstate transportation of stolen goods carries a maximum of up to 10 years in prison. The criminal complaint filed against Strange does not guarantee he will go to trial. A decision will be made on whether to seek a felony indictment following the investigation.
XXL has reached out to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan for comment.
