Scott Storch: From Riches to Rags

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MIAMI -- Just a few years ago, Scott Storch was one of the top producers in pop music, living in a $10.5 million mansion on an exclusive Miami island, driving a phalanx of luxury cars and dating the likes of Paris Hilton and Lil Kim.

Nowadays, Scott Storch, 34, is missing in action. He owes over $500,000 in real estate taxes and had a warrant out for his arrest when he failed to show up in court in a child-support case last month. He has not had a top 10 hit in three years. He still has his waterfront marble mansion, but his lawyer, Guy Spiegelman, says Storch is attempting to refinance it after a "catastrophic occurrence this year" resulting from "mismanagement." Storch no longer works with his old manager or publicist. He hasn't talked to either of his children in months.

Replete with tragic details and bad behavior, the ballad of Scott Storch may be the swan song of the bling era, a riches-to-rags tale of excess, poor decisions and a hobbled music industry.

Born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and raised in South Florida and the Philadelphia area, Storch is a high-school dropout from a broken, middle-class family who turned serious musician chops and intense ambition into a high-flying career. Vanessa Bellido met him when they were both in high school and he was a talented keyboardist.

"He always knew what he wanted to be," she says. "He would play the piano unbelievably. He was like, 'I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it.' Even at 15 he was an old soul. Real smart, real different."

While still a teen, Storch was a founding member of the Roots. He produced their breakthrough single "You Got Me," which helped Philly's acclaimed live hip-hop band win a Grammy, and gave the sandy-haired Jewish producer serious hip-hop credentials. Deciding he preferred studios to touring, Storch moved to Los Angeles to work with Dr. Dre. There his keyboard loops helped form the basis of such hits as "Still D.R.E." He produced seven tracks on Christina Aguilera's "Stripped" album, including "Can't Hold Us Down," which featured Lil Kim.

"Costs have come down because it's an absolute necessity. We're certainly not able to spend beyond what our budgets are for making records," said Kallman. "If a producer's out of our price range, we've gotta move to another producer. There's always new people." The executive says Storch has not produced any recent Atlantic tracks but that they have "been talking."

Photo by: Gustavo Caballero/Contributor

Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/776/story/607666.html