City of Houston’s civic leader and prominent rapper Frazier Thompson III better known to the hip hop community as “Trae the Truth” held his annual “Trae Day” event in the city with a host of hip hop stars despite a ban by Radio One 97.9 station that is currently in place against him.
Young Money’s Shanell, Jae Millz, Lil Chuckie, along with Gorilla Zoe, Lupe Fiasco, and Young Buck performed for thousands of screaming fans for this annual event.
footage of “Trae Day” event held July 22, 2010
Provided Exclusive Access
Trae the Truth holds a press conference announcing
his lawsuit against Radio One
Trae the Truth Mixtape featuring Young Jeezy
The Houston rapper is suing the station’s general manager Doug Abernathy, program manager Terri Thomas and radio personality Nnete Inyangumia after the station banned his music from receiving airplay.
Trae claims that 97.9—the only hip-hop station in Houston—stopped playing his music after an on-air interview in which Inyangumia accused him of causing violence at a recent public festival. In addition to the ban, he accuses the station of interfering with other personal business dealings. For instance, Trae alleges that Kracker Nuttz, one of the station’s most popular DJs and a 12-year vet of the company, was reportedly fired for accidentally playing a song by Chamillionaire, which featured a verse by Trae.
“I would not have file
d a lawsuit, but when other people started being hurt by this ban, I knew I had to stand up,” Trae said. “I just could not let any more people suffer and be punished by the radio station over this ridiculous vendetta.”
Trae is suing for general damages to his reputation, character, and standing in the community, as well as mental suffering, loss of professional opportunities, performance revenue, record royalties and other damages.
“We believe that the defendants have gone beyond the parameters of legally sanctioned activity in first banning Trae’s music, then going as far as to intentionally interfere with his business relationships and thus destroy his career,” says the rapper’s attorney Warren Fitzgerald Jr. “I find this behavior repulsive, especially for a radio station that daily champions itself as music artists’ ‘best friend.’”
Boxing promoter & Rap-A-Lot Records CEO, James Prince said, “I had been excited about being involved with the next Trae album, but with this ban taking place, not only in his hometown, but likely also in the second best place for airplay, which is Dallas, it would be impossible to promote the album. This ban is sabotaging his career, because those cities are the foundation for breaking his records.”
Radio One’s CEO Cathy Hughes should be ashamed that her own employees are allowing these type of petty beefs to foster in a market where the community has a lot of support for Mr. Frazier, stated another industry insider who didn’t want to be identified.
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