“I never really knew what kind of deal I was in throughout the whole time I was associated with 1501. I never received any statements or earnings.”

“They haven’t done right by me. It was like signing with the devil.”

“He didn’t give me nothing.”

These complaints about Carl Crawford and his label 1501 Certified Entertainment sound like they came out of the mouth of his now-disgruntled star signee Megan Thee Stallion, who is in the middle of suing him. Instead, they come from a number of former and current signees, who second many of Megan’s concerns.

Houston rapper HardyBoy Pigg was, he says, the first artist signed to 1501. And he tells a story common to many disgruntled artists. He was recruited by Crawford’s then-business partner T. Farris, who has deep connections in the H-Town rap scene. But shortly after signing, HardyBoy was locked up for three years. Crawford and the label, he says, “left me for dead the whole time I was in jail.”

After that, HardyBoy found himself in a familiar situation: his label wouldn’t release his music. “The same shit Megan went through, I was going through,” he remembers. “[Crawford] was really on some bully stuff.” He adds, “He didn’t give me nothing.”

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