Gyant Unplugged

Everybody listen up!

The music industry needs be on high alert because there’s apparently a fraudulent character on the loose.  Or at least that’s what I’m being told. It seems that some people will go to any lengths to validate their existence. And unfortunately for us that doesn’t limit it to just us, “regular folk.”

I received an email from a well respected colleague who just got duped out of thousands of dollars for services rendered, and in a recession might I add, from a member of a well-known musical family.

Dominic Edmonds, who claims to be the lovechild of Kevon Edmonds is in the Atlanta-area, and from what I understand he’s racking up services from publicists, photographers and consultants but is failing to make good on payments.

I received an email with all the sordid details which I’ve decided to post.

Dear Gyant,

First off let me say that I am fan! So when I ran into a major money problem with a current client I knew exactly who to hit up. There’s a fraud among us in the music scene and I am telling my story so that nobody else gets duped by this guy like I did.

Dominic Edmonds, who also goes by the name of Antoine Keane claims to be the son of Kevon Edmonds. He’s based out of California and travels to Atlanta frequently. He came to Atlanta about three months ago claiming that he had a joint venture with Warner Music Group and Wonggee records, and was starting a new label called Stars R Born [SRB] records. But in an unusual twist; Dominic aka Antoine claimed already have three artists already signed through prior business deals, and was eager to get started working on his own label situation- Fredd Knuxx, Jasmine and Johnny Gill’s cousin Monte were the artists mentioned

I was contacted through a mutual business associate with claims of a massive budget and a unique situation for a consulting gig.

In the beginning I had no reason to question the validity of his business ventures because based on the picture I attached in this email you can see that he looks like an Edmond’s. Add that to the fact that he essentially picked up the tab at restaurants, concert venues, etc and I was convinced that he was in fact a mover and shaker in the game. That is until I submitted an invoice for payment, which was paid – but short by two-stacks [$2k].

The over-site was reduced to an accounting error, and seeing as though I did receive half of my retainer I continued to work in good faith with an understanding the full amount, plus my monthly consulting fee would be handled the following invoicing cycle.

In the time frame of nonpayment – through my relationships- Dominic aka Antoine Keane began taking meetings with top notch publicists, photographers, A&R’s, Graphic designers etc as we laid the ground work to build his new label infrastructure.

And while I can not speak for everyone involved, and trust me there are some HEAVY HITTERS involved, everyone had received their initial retainers [well partial payments], but few have received much else. And after numerous emails and phone calls, Dominic and his faux SRB senior staff  members have failed to make good on their financial agreements. I have heard every excuse from my money had to be sent direct deposit, which would take 10 business days, to claims the money was deposited into my account.

However, no money was ever deposited, and according to Dominic’s aka Antoine’s accountant and alleged former Atlantic Records/WMG Durie Pervins before my payment for services could be paid an internal investigation had to be launched.

To date I, nor have any of the consultants above received monies owed for services rendered. Dominic Edmonds  aka Antoine Keane is no where to found and every attempt to get reach has failed miserably.

Some would call him a pathological liar as many of his claims, like his past relationship with Vanessa Simmons and “The Hills” Kristen Cavallari, have proven be false. Dominic also claims to have personal relationships with Kevin Liles, Lyor Cohen and Jimmy Iovine, another falsity that’s been discovered on my quest to get whats owed to me.

And while I can’t speak on his alleged label situations, I’ve already put in calls to my peoples at both Atlantic/Warner and Sony/Columbia who are actively looking into clearing that up very soon.

Why a member of the Edmonds family would come to the ATL and initiate business situation[s], again where heavy hitters were involved, just to play some sort of childish game is beyond me. One of my greatest traits is my strong work ethic, and when I do a job I expect to be paid for it. I’m sure you understand how hard it can be to collect your money, and while I am built to deal with chasing checks. I am not built to deal with someone who would outright steal from me.

The contract and partial payment for my consulting fee have lead me to beleive that despite my gut telling me something was awry, this guy was the real deal. Well he’s not. And before he pulls the same stunt on someone else I felt it my civic duty to reach out to “the Gyant” cause I know you’ll put somebody on blast with no regards.

Attached is pictures of this guy along with some explosive information I found while doing some research of my own?

So let me put everyone on notice about this guy:

Dominic Edmonds aka Antoine Keane
5″9-5″10
140-145lbs
He’s got a speech impediment or perhaps a slight learning disablity, I’m not quite sure.
Thin
Age Unknown

Fraudulent Claims:

Claims to have ties to Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, Jimmy Iovine
Claims to be the son of Kevon Edmonds
Claims to have a joint venture through Warner Music Group and Sony/Columbia
Claims to be Vanessa Simmons and Kristen Cavallari Ex
Claims to have garnered his inheritance from both the Edmonds and Keane family.

Gyant, while it is not in my nature to put people on blast, in our current economy I fear that if people aren’t informed about this shady character it could lead to a devastating situation should he pull this on the wrong person. Lets all pray for this guy.

I appreciate you allowing me to tell my story.

http://www.myspace.com/dominicedmonds

http://twitter.com/yadagotskillz

Best,

[Name removed]

The only reason I posted this is because I too have already been getting a few complaints about someone from the Edmond’s family pulling the same stunts with other people in different cities.  Delaware rapper Fred Knuxx himself reached out and broke down his account on someone who sounds an awful lot like the guy above. It can’t be a coincidence, can it?

Let’s hope this person can get their money matter resolved so I can get the word to pull this post down. But until then industry beware! Make sure your checks clear before you make a move.

Why can’t people just be who they are. Lies, particularly in the music business will catch up to you.

Unlearn people. UNLEARN!

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Tags: Antoine Keane, Blogger Beware, Dominic Edmonds, On Blast

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 11:23 amand is filed under Atlanta, Blogger Beware. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.