Jay Z has 99 problems and one of them is an alleged $20m extortion plot involving some of his master recordings

Cool Vegan™ and Mr Beyoncé Jay Z is at the centre of an alleged $20 million extortion plot involving master recordings of some of his music songs, and bless him because can you imagine having to tell Beyoncé bad news like that after she’s spent a long, hard day being Beyoncé? Poor Jay Z.

Anyway according to TMZ, police in New York and Los Angeles have launched an investigation into an alleged extortion plot, focusing on music producer Chancey Mahan, who it seems attempted to use master recordings of various fun music songs to squeeze money out of his targets.

And one of those targets and some of those recordings happen to include Jay Z’s Roc-A-Fella masters from 1998 to 2002, with TMZ reporting the tapes – formerly thought to have been lost – had been offered by the producer to Jay’s Live Nation business partners . For money. Lots of money.

It’s thought Mahan asked for a $100,000 storage fee for the tapes – later lowered to $75,000 – but was apprehended by the police when he went to his storage facility on Friday (April 18), which we’re guessing is because someone ate some cheese. Moral of the story: don’t trust anyone who’s name is literally ‘Chancey’.
Los Angeles police are now investigating, while Jay's legal team has filed a complaint for grand larceny in New York. The masters have been confiscated and Beyoncé has sent Jay Z to his room with no dinner.