Jacki-O has filed for bankruptcy, declaring debts of $144,225 and assets of $1,340 in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.
The rapper, born Angela Kohn, has declared herself officially broke in an attempt to break her recording contract with Poe Boy Entertainment, the label which released her debut album, Poe Little Rich Girl, in association with TVT.
While Jacki-O is hoping this will free her from any personal obligations to Poe Boy, she is not leaving TVT Records.
“An artist would like to live a very fabulous lifestyle,” the rapper told the Miami Herald. “But it takes money to look like money.”
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The bankruptcy was filed late last year, and clears all of Jacki-O’s financial debts, ranging from Bally’s Total Fitness to Verizon Wireless, to the IRS.
The Liberty City native, most famous for her beef with Foxy Brown and her sexually explicit 2004 hit Nookie, made the move to void her early recording and distribution contract because she claimed she was not receiving any royalties from her album or subsequent singles.
“‘Baby artist’ contracts are inherently one-sided,” told Jacki-O’s lawyer Richard C. Wolfe. “This was particularly one-sided. She was given a small advance and since then she hasn’t been given one penny in royalties.”
Jacki-O was signed to a five-album deal with Poe Boy Entertainment, with distribution through TVT Records.
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While TVT Records’ spokesman Joe Wiggins expressed his interest in working with the rapstress again, a spokesperson for Poe Boy could not be reached.
“Her record showed promise,” said TVT’s Wiggins about Jacki-O’s debut, Poe Little Rich Girl. “It’s about building her career as an artist. That’s what TVT is known for. We would be happy to put out another Jacki-O album.”
Although filing for bankruptcy to void a contract is not common practice in the music industry, it is an accepted approach, and one that has rescued the careers of Toni Braxton, TLC, and Run DMC in the past.
Jacki-O is hopeful that she’ll be able to sign a new recording contract soon, and has already got material prepared for her new album, Jack The Ripper. The lead single is to be Monkey, “another name for nookie”, she told the Herald.
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“It’s pop, a bit R&B, a bit hip hop. I’m looking for a fresh start.”
