Liza Rios, Let Me Walk You Through Them Numbers Girlfriend
The lawyer in me hates shit like this. As posted everywhere, Liza Rios, widow of the late, great Christopher Rios p/k/a “Big Pun” is crying broke, telling how she and her kids are living in a shelter and putting Fat Joe on blast, alleging that he somehow ganked her for royalties earned in connection with records released by Pun. She states “financial woes have forced her and her kids to live in a city shelter. Rios says that she received $160k in royalties from her late husband’s music, but that those funds were quickly used up in mortgage payments and childcare.”
Of course, Joe immediately responded: “Immediately after Pun’s death I gave Liza Rios the whole advance of the Endangered Species album, NO ONE but Liza made a dollar off that album. I also gave her the total advance from the publishing company that was due to Big Pun.
I’ve never made a dollar off Big Pun since his passing. This was hundreds of thousands of dollars of frivolous spending, after the second payoff I washed my hands. Since then we have been through 6 lawyers, harassment on various radio stations and online mediums every time she needs more money. I also have legal documents stating that NO ONE is making money off of Big Pun.
I sympathize with Liza, but I have already done enough for her. In these economic times we as parents need to be resilient and do what it takes to provide for our own families.”
$160,000??? Let’s do some effin math. Pun was signed to Terror Sqaud was signed to Relativity Records was signed to Sony. When Joe signed Pun, as a new artist, Joe probably received anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 of which Pun probably received anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000, depending of course on the size and nature of Joe’s deal with Relativity. Let’s meet in the middle and say $50,000. Not much but believe me, as a new artist in the mid 1990’s, that’s not bad for a rapper with NO TRACK RECORD. Pun’s first album, Capital Punishment sells over 1,000,000 units [||] and is certified platinum. Like I’ve said before, back in the ’90’s certified platinum wasn’t all that, it just got an artist in the game and convinced the label that that act was worth at least a second album. That’s all that meant. No Bentley’s, no planes, yachts or mansions, just a second bite at the apple. So after sales, Sony takes their cut from the top, and trust, their cut is significant. Whatever bits of dough is left gets paid to Relativity. Relativity recoups EVERYTHING from Terror Squad, videos, travel, promotion, wardrobe, recording costs, Joe and Pun’s sizable eating expenses, EVERYTHING and then some. So now the dough is looking like pretzel bits which then goes to Terror Squad to break up. TS takes them pretzel bits and tries to soak up whatever expenses they paid directly to Pun, like his initial advance which I said would be around $50k, and after whatever’s left they pay him an additional $50k. So let’s add that $50k to the number I said before. Big Pun is walking around with about $100k in connection with his first album. If TS did a co-publishing deal with Pun, meaning they shared in his publishing income, Pun prolly received another $25-$50k on top of the $100k. Let’s round that out to $130k. Throw in some show money in which Pun might have been billing at least $10k per show and Pun while alive was making some serious coin. Off course you have to factor his manager’s fee which was most likely 20% of all them above-referenced figures. Then there’s always that new artist factor, how almost EVERY new artist that comes into some new money automatically blows that shit on the frivolous car, jewelry, eats, wife and mistress expenses, plus mad visits to Sue’s Rendevous. Trust that Liza had no complaints when shit was popping, other than them gun butting incidents.
Everybody being happy at the success of Capital Punishment, Pun’s lawyers, having more leverage, come at Joe, TS and Relativity hard [||] to re-negotiate Pun’s deal. Relativity ponies up more money for TS, Joe gets a stack and Pun probably walks away with anywhere from $100 – $250k up front for his second project. Pun passes on February 7th, 2000 and because he’s not around to put the work in necessary to effectively promote his second record Yeeeah Baby, released shortly after on April 4, 2000, the album under performs and sells over 500,000 units, certified as a gold album. If platinum was meh in the ’90’s, gold status most definitely pissed off the TI’s in the Sony building. Pissed at the fact that Pun walked away with a sizeable advance and expenses (more costly videos, bigger marketing and promotion costs, etc) that they were not in a position to recoup from. Well, Sony most likely did recoup dollar for dollar with profit, but how them deals are structured from the top down, even if they made money, Relativty, TS and Pun were most likely unrecouped. You still with me?
Joe, still mourning the death of his compadre and main bread winner, plus having some un-released masters featuring performances of Pun fights with Relativty and Sony on TS and Pun’s behalf to honor the remainder of Pun’s renegotiated agreement to release a third album and pay Pun’s estate whatever advances monies Pun would have received had he still been alive. Sony trying to maximize on sales, as well as Relativity agree and pony up $160k to Liza Rios for Pun’s third and last album Endangered Species, released on April 3, 2001. Endangered Species as we all know, tanks and sells brick. Joe, TS, Relativity and Sony make no money, Liza Rios is eating steak with that arroz con pollo. Ten years later she pops up crying broke.
People, I’ve seen these scenarios hundreds of times. Different actors, but always the same script. Not that I’m heartless in connection with ole girl’s current woes, but that shit is nothing new. Not saying Joe is any types of angel, but like that other man said, men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.
No shots were fired in the making of this post.
UPDATE: There’s some stating that Big Pun was signed initially to Loud/ RCA. That’s what I remember as well but all I’m pulling up in my research for this post is that the Pun records fall under Relativity/Sony. As there was a corporate merge between Sony and BMG (RCA’s parent company) in 2004, all Pun records are listed as being released within in the Sony system. Still and all, the numbers breakdown remain the same. I take my work here at the Daily Mathematics very seriously.
As should Peter Rosenberg. SHOTS!
I don’t think thats right because when Pun Was alive they inked a 3 million dollar deal for TS,What happened to that money??? I really don’t think Pun was paid everything.
Great read.
Liza is just too damn ghetto “ignant” for her own good.
She fucked off all that dough & everyone knows it, ‘cept her cuz she is so fuckin ignorant & caught up in trying floss like she is on some fame shit.
She should have taken all that advance money & socked it away, hired an accountant & at the bare minimum bought a small crib in Arizona or somewhere cheap so she at least had a roof over the seeds heads.
That broad was only lookin at the cash for her own self.
See what happens.
I feel for them kids, but face it, they are doomed to a life of shit thanks to Mom’s failure to be just a tiny bit reponsible.
Homegirl needs to get a job & start earning some scratch the old fashion way just like everyone else.
Its over Ma, throw on the Walmart vest & start stockin’ shelves.
Or, keep livin in the shelter trying to squeeze blood from a turnip.
I am glad Joe cut that rotten apple off.
dont mean to post another blog in here..but this article is from the mid 90s..breaking down the #s game behind getting signed. show this to Rosenberg
http://ifihavent.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/artistsdontmakemoney_ontheg.jpg
Hey plain and simple your deduction is wrong! f.y.i. Fat Rat Joe was also conveniently his “manager” ! that was a robbery in itself ! Big Pun was taken advantage of by the one he considered his “twin”. He was a good hearted man who had many demons. But a genius non-theless ! Liza Rios stated it was 116k you most likely thought it was 160k due to her f%cked up voice . Another issue I took note to is that how does an estate of a deceased artist get paid 116k for the project with least sales provided less expenses but it did 116k ,, and the 2 prior albums are allegedly unrecouped? T.S. to this day eats off the Capital Punishment album. After a visit to spain you will see that the late great one has a cult following that worships him and his artform. That album gets downloads, ringtones, still by latin america! Understand how big latin america is ? Fat Joe most likely had some type of deal where he could determine how to use Big Puns funds in the event of his death! By the looks of the asswhippings he would deliver to Mrs. Pun you can tell he did not trust her 1 bit. But the fact remains Fat Joe is wrong 100%! I read another blog recently where a fan stated he was at the funeral and heard Fat Joe state that “if Big Puns kids did not eat that his would not either”! If he meant it then we would not be observing the amount of disdain you see here and Big Puns kids would be in a safe home with a college fund readily available! Point made do not trust anyone with your lifes work even if you think they are your twin,,, obviously Joe did not consider Pun as close as pun considered his pathetic self ! Another thing is Fat Joe had worked along side FEDS to bring down some bronx drug dealers who thought he was cool as well,, then to add to his character he hangs with Officer Rick Ross the boss of all COPS!nuff said!
Hey plain and simple your deduction is wrong! f.y.i. Fat Rat Joe was also conveniently his “manager” ! that was a robbery in itself ! Big Pun was taken advantage of by the one he considered his “twin”. He was a good hearted man who had many demons. But a genius non-theless ! Liza Rios stated it was 116k you most likely thought it was 160k due to her f%cked up voice . Another issue I took note to is that how does an estate of a deceased artist get paid 116k for the project with least sales provided less expenses but it did 116k ,, and the 2 prior albums are allegedly unrecouped? T.S. to this day eats off the Capital Punishment album. After a visit to spain you will see that the late great one has a cult following that worships him and his artform. That album gets downloads, ringtones, still by latin america! Understand how big latin america is ? Fat Joe most likely had some type of deal where he could determine how to use Big Puns funds in the event of his death! By the looks of the asswhippings he would deliver to Mrs. Pun you can tell he did not trust her 1 bit. But the fact remains Fat Joe is wrong 100%! I read another blog recently where a fan stated he was at the funeral and heard Fat Joe state that “if Big Puns kids did not eat that his would not either”! If he meant it then we would not be observing the amount of disdain you see here and Big Puns kids would be in a safe home with a college fund readily available! Point made do not trust anyone with your lifes work even if you think they are your twin,,, obviously Joe did not consider Pun as close as pun considered his pathetic self ! Another thing is Fat Joe had worked along side FEDS to bring down some bronx drug dealers who thought he was cool as well,, then to add to his character he hangs with Officer Rick Ross the boss of all COPS!nuff said!
Shut the fuck up.
Because liza will use that money for fancy things and she ain’t worth a shit and joe loved pun, just didn’t like his assclown wife.
And let joe hang out whatever he wants, I Feel sorry for pun’s kids, but his sorry ass bitch of a wife, I Don’t feel sorry for, If I Were joe, I Would give pun’s trust fund to pun’s mother and makes sure that witch of a widow won’t get shit.
and you must be at 50 cent supporter who is also a snitch who brought down a record label, not to mention responsible for deliberately recording phone conversations of young buck and that is just as bad and dirty.
and now I Heard rumors that he wants pac’s whole entire catalogue, well it’s never gonna happen if this is true.
Afi K. James
Shut the fuck up.
Because liza will use that money for fancy things and she ain’t worth a shit and joe loved pun, just didn’t like his assclown wife.
And let joe hang out whatever he wants, I Feel sorry for pun’s kids, but his sorry ass bitch of a wife, I Don’t feel sorry for, If I Were joe, I Would give pun’s trust fund to pun’s mother and makes sure that witch of a widow won’t get shit.
and you must be at 50 cent supporter who is also a snitch who brought down a record label, not to mention responsible for deliberately recording phone conversations of young buck and that is just as bad and dirty.
and now I Heard rumors that he wants pac’s whole entire catalogue, well it’s never gonna happen if this is true.
AFI -first off who the fruck named you that pathetic name you sound like a faggot and very ignorant !
1- Never curse at sum1 you dont know you may get shot ! I am GOD and ive made lives to make up for the ones ive taken from the face of this Earth little nigger!
2- FYI -no where did I mention 50cent shunn so leave the poor dude outta it as he has enough problems with his career !
3- If he did buy tupacs catalouge which his mother afeni would never allow that would be the wisest investment he ever made ! But as I stated she wont ever allow such as she know what she has !
4- How would you know what she would buy with the money ? You must be one of Joes fatty girls waiting to get fuckd in the ass lmao
5- If you read correctly I stated that he should ensure a home and college money ,,,
I never mentioned money for her to but stuff .
6- I doubt she spent the 116k unwsiely because in 10 years if you divide that its 16k a year meaning she lived just a bit over poverty level,,, dont you know about that math lil nigger ? Poverty level in the USA is about 14k a year. So from what I can deduce she spent it extremely carefully ! But you must be a dumb nigger that never studied stats right… lmao
7- even if she was money hungry, a hooker, a junkie, a retard, or a dumb lil nigger such as yourself this does not take away from the fact that FAT JOE OWES BIG PUNS ESTATE!
So eat a dick shunn and do your homework before passing judgement on a family and what is owed to those kids !!! Its a damn shame !!!
Because liza will use that money for fancy things and she ain’t worth a shit and joe loved pun, just didn’t like his assclown wife.
And let joe hang out whatever he wants, I Feel sorry for pun’s kids, but his sorry ass bitch of a wife, I Don’t feel sorry for, If I Were joe, I Would give pun’s trust fund to pun’s mother and makes sure that witch of a widow won’t get shit.
and you must be at 50 cent supporter who is also a snitch who brought down a record label, not to mention responsible for deliberately recording phone conversations of young buck and that is just as bad and dirty.
and now I Heard rumors that he wants pac’s whole entire catalogue, well it’s never gonna happen if this is true.
AFI -first off who the fruck named you that pathetic name you sound like a faggot and very ignorant !
1- Never curse at sum1 you dont know you may get shot ! I am GOD and ive made lives to make up for the ones ive taken from the face of this Earth little nigger!
2- FYI -no where did I mention 50cent shunn so leave the poor dude outta it as he has enough problems with his career !
3- If he did buy tupacs catalouge which his mother afeni would never allow that would be the wisest investment he ever made ! But as I stated she wont ever allow such as she know what she has !
4- How would you know what she would buy with the money ? You must be one of Joes fatty girls waiting to get fuckd in the ass lmao
5- If you read correctly I stated that he should ensure a home and college money ,,,
I never mentioned money for her to but stuff .
6- I doubt she spent the 116k unwsiely because in 10 years if you divide that its 16k a year meaning she lived just a bit over poverty level,,, dont you know about that math lil nigger ? Poverty level in the USA is about 14k a year. So from what I can deduce she spent it extremely carefully ! But you must be a dumb nigger that never studied stats right… lmao
7- even if she was money hungry, a hooker, a junkie, a retard, or a dumb lil nigger such as yourself this does not take away from the fact that FAT JOE OWES BIG PUNS ESTATE!
So eat a dick shunn and do your homework before passing judgement on a family and what is owed to those kids !!! Its a damn shame !!!
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Shut the fuck up then and tell your bitch ass liza to get a damn job, she’s just as bad as disrespecting pun as fat hoe and she brainwashes the kids claming they are glad their own sad excuse of a father is gone.
She wants to revive pun’s legacy, but she is a bitch for ruining just as much as fat hoe and cuban link ain’t worth a shit either.
and fat hoe does not own pun’s estate, jelly bean does.
1- WHO THE FUCK IS JELLY BEAN ? 2- COME MAKE ME SHUT THE FUCK UP SHUNN I WILL GLADLY SHOW YOU WHO THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD IS SON! 3- CUBAN LINK HAS WHAT TO DO WITH WHAT FAT JOE OWES? SURELY YOU SHOULD GET A BETTER ARGUEMENT LMAO!
4- FUCK HER THE ISSUE IS WHATS OWED TO BIG PUNS KIDS !
5- JOE MUST HAVE HIS DICK UP UR ASS TOO HUH LMAO NEVER UNDERSTOOD HOW “MEN” WORSHIP OTHER “MEN” LMAO MUST BE SAD LMAO
6- NAME A PARK OR A PLACE AND WE CAN TAKE THAT WALK ! JUST MAKE UR WILL OUT FIRST !
And if fat joe wants to help pun’s kids to give them scholarships and stuff and a nice home, so be it, but otherwise after that DVD that Liza pulled, joe has a point.
if she really loved him like she claimed she had, she should have never ruined pun’s legacy in the first place.
just like fat hoe did, so I Blame them both.
1- WHO THE FUCK IS JELLY BEAN ? 2- COME MAKE ME SHUT THE FUCK UP SHUNN I WILL GLADLY SHOW YOU WHO THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD IS SON! 3- CUBAN LINK HAS WHAT TO DO WITH WHAT FAT JOE OWES? SURELY YOU SHOULD GET A BETTER ARGUEMENT LMAO!
4- FUCK HER THE ISSUE IS WHATS OWED TO BIG PUNS KIDS !
5- JOE MUST HAVE HIS DICK UP UR ASS TOO HUH LMAO NEVER UNDERSTOOD HOW “MEN” WORSHIP OTHER “MEN” LMAO MUST BE SAD LMAO
6- NAME A PARK OR A PLACE AND WE CAN TAKE THAT WALK ! JUST MAKE UR WILL OUT FIRST !
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If joe wants to help pun’s kids and wants to get pun’s royalties to them, so be it, but otherwise after that DVD that she pulled, she should have never disrespected pun just as much, in fact it hurt his legacy, I Don’t condone pun for abusing his wife, but she should have never done that, now pun’s legacy is just plain dead to, cuban may keep it alive, but pun’s legacy is long gone and perhaps r.i.p.
NAME A TIME AND PLACE SHUNN I DONT TALK MUCH ! I WILL FUCK U UP AND BLAST IT ON YOUTUBE THE NEXT DAY LIL NIGGER ! THIS THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD SHUNN SHUNN BOW DOWN OR DIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BITCH ASS NIGGA TALKING BOUT JELLY BEANS WHO THE FUCK IS JELLY BEAN PROBABLY UR GAY LOVER LMAO !
ANOTHER THING IS YOU GOT THAT POINT WITH THAT DVD POPPING SHIT ABOUT THE LATE GREAT BUT ,, THATS BETWEEN HER , HER HUBBY N GOD!
SHE GOTTA ANSWER THAT SHIT BUT KIDS SUFFERING IS TABOO ANY WAY U LOOK AT IT !
ANOTHER THING IS YOU GOT THAT POINT WITH THAT DVD POPPING SHIT ABOUT THE LATE GREAT BUT ,, THATS BETWEEN HER , HER HUBBY N GOD!
SHE GOTTA ANSWER THAT SHIT BUT KIDS SUFFERING IS TABOO ANY WAY U LOOK AT IT !
If joe wants to help pun’s kids and other stuff fine, but otherwise, let the great rapper r.i.p.
and let joe move on with his life with his own kids and his own fame.
That DVD still hurts pun’s legacy and it will effect people for the rest of their lives and even though I Don’t condone joe for what he did to cuban and triple seis and others, it’s just sad that pun’s legacy wasn’t always meant to be, just like selena did, her legacy was beautiful and it made me cry.
MADE U CRY CUZ YOUR A FAGGOT LIL NIGGA ! EAT A DICK SHUNN ! I HATE THE 85%!
It does make me cry, because I Miss selena so much, just like big pun.
I Just cannot forgive joe what he did to the original terror squad, he needs to be responsible for his actions.
FIRST THING YOU SAID THAT MAKES SENSE !!! GLAD YOU SEEN THE LIGHT! PEACE!
FIRST THING YOU SAID THAT MAKES SENSE !!! GLAD YOU SEEN THE LIGHT! PEACE!
Because joe should have never left D.I.T.C. Nor meet big pun, even better.
Joe just isn’t the same without big pun & Big L.
I Have a bad feeling that fat hoe might do the same thing to his miami crew soon, cool & dre and the rest need to distance themselves from joe.
Florida does not need him and neither does NY, What’s next he’s gonna screw up?
Texas, califorina, idaho, illnois, north carolina etc, shame.