Steve 'Flash' Juon: I know this should probably go without saying, but after reading this LiveJournal blog I have to say it for the record: Devo Spice is NOT a racist.

For those who haven't seen the article, let me briefly summarize the main points of contention, and you can read Devo's blog if you want for the intricate details. About two years ago, Prince Markie Dee's manager posted online that he was available to do 16 bars for a song for a fee. Some of you may know him from his time in the Fat Boys, others from his solo career that followed. Either way Spice inquired about the price, found out it was a relatively reasonable $500, and both parties agreed he could pay the fee in advance and collect on the 16 when he had a track ready to go.

Things started to go awry when Spice needed the bars by the middle of March 2011 in time to release his album Gnome Sane? by April. This is where both the manager and the artist in question starting making excuses and promises, the former being unverifiable and the latter being unfulfilled. The deadline was missed, but Spice still had what was essentially a contract for services which he intended to keep - after all those 16 bars could be used in any project down the road. He set the end of April 2012 as a VERY reasonable due date, no bars were delivered, he asked for a refund.

Management suddenly clammed up and refused to answer any more e-mails on the subject. Spice took the matter to small claims court, Markie Dee's management failed to show up, Spice presented his side of the case to the judge, and the judge ruled in Spice's favor for the full amount of $500 + $22 for court costs. As you might suspect though, if they weren't about to give him a refund for not delivering on the contract, they weren't about to pay the summary judgment against them either. Spice is out the $500 and the court costs for 16 bars he paid for and never got.

On his July 29th podcast, Spice finally made the entire situation public, outlining everything written above and referred to in his LiveJournal blog. At this point Markie Dee's manager IMPLIED MALICIOUS INTENT ON TWITTER. You don't have to take my word for it though - read the LiveJournal blog and decide for yourself. On top of that several Twitter accounts said manager controls minutes later tweeted that @DevoSpice was a racist, including @EricBandRakim. The tweets were later deleted.

Now having known this man for 20 years plus going back to the 1990's, I can not only vouch for him but personally state for the record beyond a shadow of a doubt the following facts.

1.) Devo Spice is in NO WAY a racist. He's a rap artist who does parodies of popular songs and original material of his own for a chuckle or two. He loves the art and culture of hip-hop. He's collaborated with many different artists of all races, colors and creeds who appreciate his comedy.
2.) In real life he's a father, a 9 to 5 man, and a tireless promoter for himself and others who aspire to do music outside the mainstream norms. This guy is too BUSY to be a racist. When would he find the time to hate on anybody anyway?
3.) I don't think asking for a refund for something you paid for but didn't get is a racist act. I think it's an entirely reasonable act. It's more questionable that the manager would throw out the race card rather than simply refunding Spice the money.

With no pun intended, are the Fat Boys (or what's still left of them in 2012) too big to pay back a small amount of money like $500? This should have been a non-issue. Considering their debut album was just given a deluxe re-release, I don't think anybody involved should be hurting for cash right now. Pay Spice back his money and stop making false and slanderous claims about what kind of man he is. He's a decent man, and Devo Spice is no racist.