The Hip Hop community may be known for its strong past support for President Barack Obama, but some rappers apparently aren’t down with paying him so much money in taxes.
Female rapper Lil’ Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Denise Jones, owes the Internal Revenue Service a reported $1,026,862 in unpaid taxes from 2002-2009.
The IRS reportedly filed the tax lien with the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds. The singer, whose real name is Kimberly Denise Jones, has been experiencing tax problems for many years, with the latest amount of $86,347 added on to her existing bill in 2009. She has been in legal trouble before and in 2005 was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for her involvement in a shooting outside the Hot 97 studios in New York.
Another Obama-backer rapper in tax trouble is Bow Wow who has tax liens from 2006, 2008, and 2010. According to TMZ, Mr. Wow’s tax headaches aren’t cheap:
As TMZ first reported, a tax lien in Florida for the year 2006 put Bow Wow on the hook for $91,105.61. The lien has still not been paid off. Now a new lien was filed on Jan. 9, this time in Georgia, saying Bow Wow owes $15, 279.62 for unpaid taxes from 2008 and another $19.700.91 for 2010. Put it all together … and you’ve got $126,086.14.
Bow Wow says he feels “blessed” to have performed for First Lady Michelle Obama and the Obama daughters. It’s just paying Mr. Obama that Mr. Wow apparently has a problem with.
Feeling Mr. Wow’s pain is rapper Sean Kingston. TMZ says the IRS has now slapped a lien on the rapper’s property for unpaid taxes from 2009:
According to official documents obtained by TMZ, Kingston — real name Kisean Anderson — stiffed Uncle Sam to the tune of $131,379.51 for the money he made in 2009 … the same year he released the album, “Tomorrow.
The feds warned the singer, “We have made a demand for payment” … but since he failed to fork over the cash, the IRS obtained a lien on his property … which means, if he doesn’t pay up, the government can go after his stuff.
Kingston, who proudly displayed his Obama “Hope and Change” T-shirt on an edition of MTV “Celebrity Cribs,” has now fully recovered from a near-fatal jet ski crash. So perhaps the rapper will be able to perform more so he can send his hard-earned money to his hero Obama.
Rounding out the list of rappers who have yet to pay their taxes is the rapper known as The-Dream. TMZ reports that Mr. Dream owes the Georgia Department of Revenue big bucks:
It’s only been a few months since he wrapped his nasty, drawn-out divorce from Christina Milian, but The-Dream is already facing a new problem … to the tune of $117,000 — courtesy of the State of Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Revenue filed a state tax lien against the music producer — claiming Dream failed to pay income taxes in 2007 totaling $60,578 … with interest and fees, the sum skyrocketed to $117,401.
Whether Hip Hop will support the reelection of Barack Obama with the same fervor as the last go-round remains to be seen. Perhaps this time rappers will listen a little closer to Mr. Obama’s “soak the rich” rhetoric.
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