A former employee of Eminem has been charged over the alleged theft of unreleased music.
- READ MORE: Eminem – ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)’ review: well-crafted songs and empty provocation
Joseph Strange – who worked for Eminem from around 2007 until 2021 – was charged on Wednesday (March 19) with criminal infringement of a copyright and interstate transportation of stolen goods in connection with the sale of unreleased music.
It comes after the FBI was alerted on January 16 by employees of Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, Michigan who discovered that some of the rapper’s unreleased music had leaked online and was available for sale, per the criminal complaint.
The ‘Lose Yourself’ rapper’s employees recognised that an image used in a list of unreleased music uploaded to the internet was one taken from a hard drive in the studio.
The FBI identified multiple individuals who had purchased the unreleased music, who then identified Strange as the person selling the music. According to a press release, the music “was still in the process of being developed by” Eminem.
“Protecting intellectual property from thieves is critical in safeguarding the exclusive rights of creators and protecting their original work from reproduction and distribution by individuals who seek to profit from the creative output of others,” said Acting United States Attorney Julie Beck, who announced the charges against Strange.
Strange faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 (£192,716) if convicted on the charge of criminal infringement of a copyright. He also faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the charge of interstate transportation of stolen goods.
It follows the song ‘Smack You’ – a Suge Knight diss track – leaking online in January, having been recorded by Eminem in the mid-2000s and remaining unreleased ever since.
It opens with a sample of 2Pac’s ‘Bomb First (My Second Reply)’ and includes verses in which he hints at Death Row co-founder Knight’s alleged involvement in 2Pac and Biggie Smalls’ murders.
Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence in California after he pleaded no contest in 2018 to a voluntary manslaughter charge after a 2015 hit-and-run incident.
Earlier this month, Knight’s son responded to the song leaking saying “an honourable man doesn’t kick the defenceless”.
He continued: “Eminem claims that the song was created in the mid-2000s. It’s strange that it’s being released now, when my father has no chance to defend himself. It’s also strange that he had many opportunities to tell him all this to his face, but didn’t have the courage.”
It is not clear if ‘Smack You’ was one of the songs involved in the investigation.
In other Eminem news, last year he released his latest album ‘The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)’. In a three-star review of the album, NME wrote: “Much more powerful is ‘Temporary’, a genuinely moving ode to his daughter, Hailie, which proves Marshall Mathers can say something that matters when he wants to.
“So, who killed Slim Shady? In bringing him back to the light and showing him up as irrelevant, perhaps Eminem’s done his old pal in for good. OK, we get it – Shady was a shocking character. Now that he’s dead, how about getting some new material?”
