One of Eminem’s former employees has been arrested for selling some of his unreleased music.
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According to Acting U.S. Attorney Julie Beck, Joseph Strange is being charged with criminal copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods.
The FBI became suspicious of Strange after another employee at Eminem’s Ferndale studio found an image of unreleased music online matching one from the rapper’s hard drives. Employees of the studio told FBI agents that music stored on hard drives isn’t accessible to the internet, are password protected and stored in a safe when not in use.
Strange, a former sound engineer for Eminem from 2007 to 2021, was reportedly one of only four people who had access to the hard drives.
Prosecutors allege he sold the music to an Ontario-based buyer known as “Doja Rat” for $50,000 in Bitcoin. The leaked songs matched files on a studio hard drive last accessed in 2019-2020 while Strange was employed.
On January 28, FBI agents searched Strange’s home, finding original Eminem lyric sheets, a VHS tape with unreleased music and hard drives containing 12,000 audio files, including Em and other artists’ work.
Eminem’s Leaked Music
The few songs that made it to the internet certainly passed the eye test of certifiable Slim Shady bangers. One song had a collaboration with Anderson .Paak & WESTSIDE BOOGIE while other’s featured production from Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, and more.
“These leaked songs were studio efforts never meant for public consumption … demos, experiments and ideas that are dated and not relevant so many years later,” spokesperson Dennis Dennehy told Billboard at the time. “The latest in a line of unfinished material released against artists’ will and without their permission.”
Eminem and his team are reportedly very appreciative of the efforts by the FBI.
