Vibe.com
2/8/08

Teddy Riley, who cemented his spot in R&B as the father of late 80s, early 90s New Jack Swing- has put his state-of-the-art Virginia Beach studio up to be sold in an attempt to pay back creditors, The Virginian-Pilot reports.

Riley purchased Future Records Recording Studio for $3 million in 1991. Creditors have agreed to seek a buyer for the studio in a Feb. 1 court hearing, but acknowledged that the studio had outdated equipment, which could affect it being sold as a working business.

Riley has been in heavy debt since 2002, the year he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Since then he has sold his home for $1.5 million to pay off debt, to no avail. Riley currently faces a $196,747 lien against him, and a $93,684 income tax lien, both filed in 2007.

what the fuck is happening with him???

where the fuck did he blow all his millions?

considering the amount of hit songs he has either written or produced,

he should have a huge amount of money, how the fuck can he blow it all??

fuck me!!

he must be one fucked up dude, or simply he has been leeched by others.

Either way, he is one dumb fucker.

He's been selling master recordings of the Dangerous album on ebay

I should have known he was broke when I saw him touring.

I've heard and read that he owes millions to different people. It's really sad considering this man wrote so many hits over his career.

bboy87 said:

Is it still going on? How much did they get?

Vanilli said:

I saw some DATs on ebay that he was selling. It was mostly instrumental and rhythm trax. Nothing special. One of them went for about $75.

daPrettyman said:

I would have loved to have gotten my hands on that. Dang it!!

What an asshole! He should have learned how to handle his money better. What was he thinking not paying his taxes. When you make a certain amount of money, you definitely should make sure you know how much is being spent & on what. That is the problem with most of these artist(s). They let others handle their business.... when they finally want to know what is going on with the finances it's too late. Teddy did do pretty well. I guess the more he made the more he spend. It's a shame if it is true about him selling stuff on ebay. Damn Teddy! How low can you get.

Teddy has a big rep in the biz as not paying folks.

Also, U all must realize that back then, producers weren't getting paid what they R now. The labels were getting the big cuts of the dough.

That's not 2 say that he didn't squander his money... I'm just sayin'.

It's all a shame, as far as I'm concerned.

The whole New Jack Swing thing was the BOMB, and it influenced and motivated me personally.

Just the fact that dudes like Puffy are wealthy beyond belief, and Teddy is going through this, just pisses me off.

Its sad that this is happening to riley, he is a real innovator.

A "state-of-the-art studio" with "outdated equipment"

He's been having financial problems for years.The two bands that he was a part of (Guy and Blackstreet) are basically over,and I can't recall the last time that he produced a successful record for someone.

SoulAlive said:

He's currently producing snoop

what about royalties from dangerous? The MJ remasters sold millions worldwide.

So thats what he looks like, I've always imagined him as a white guy.

I don't know why.

seeingvoices12 said:

Very true. He certainly was.

Very sad. I don't understand how this could happen to him when he was the producer of very many enduring top-selling hits.

I could use a couple of bucks myself.
I tried selling out my equipment,
but I also have been told that it's outdated.


Damn.
I need a hit.

DANGEROUSx said:

I hope teddy hadn't been smoking that glass dick.

I've said it before, the man makes wicked music, but he's a dickhead who owes EVERYONE he's worked with. That's why he's not getting much work, he fucks over too many people...and he owes the mafia money...

Mong said:

I hope Snoop and him make a hit track.

I also wish MJ and him would work on the new MJ album. I really really wish he was involved, but I'm not counting on it. It seemed like back in 05/06, he was talking about how it was IN THE FUTURE. However, Michael has apparently started work on his new album and there are no reports of any involvement from Teddy.

DANGEROUSx said:

Many artists and producers live beyond their means.They get a few hit records and start buying fancy cars and mansions.They never really learn how to budget their money.

SoulAlive said:

So true. So true. Truth be told, i'd love to have a shot at their living circumstances.

Beyond that, in related news, you can still find his master copy CD of "Will You Be There" from MJ's Dangerous for $199. Interesting.

DANGEROUSx said:

I have no idea how you figured that, considering Teddy Riley has been a relatively public figure for the past 20 years. He actually was a central figure in TWO groups (GUY and Blackstreet) in the late '80s through the '90s. It surely could not be based on the music Riley produced.

Vanilli said:

Also,many of these guys never prepare for the future.They assume that the hits are gonna keep coming,no matter what.These days,very few artists/producers have longevity in this business.It's important to "save for a rainy day".There will be plenty of rainy days once the hits stop coming.

SoulAlive said:

The problem is that Teddy Riley had a decade-long run as a prominent producer, which is much harder to swallow. It would be no less shocking if a story came across the wire that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis or Babyface declared they were broke (and Riley was arguably as productive as they were during that span).

The rather sad thing about Riley's situation is that like Jam & Lewis and 'Face he also wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of his material and (last I read) still owns the copyrights to them -- there is no reason why the man should be bankrupt.
[Edited 2/11/08 5:00am]

Rioub said:

TRANSLATION: the studio doesn't have Pro-Tools.

LittleAmy said:

Now that u mention it, didn't Babyface go through some financial hardships?

Cinnie said:

Better yet, did his ex-wife Tracey ended up with more than half?!?