Flavor Flav owes $1 million tax bill to the U.S government
Musician and TV personality Flavor Flav reportedly owes the federal government of the United States nearly $1 million in back taxes from 2004-2006.
According to the court documents filed by the Department of the Treasury, Flavor Flav did not pay his back taxes for the years which coincided with his return to prominence via reality TV, specifically with “Flavor of Love,” “Strange Love,” and “The Surreal Life.”
Reports said that Flavor Flav owes back taxes worth $52,543.47 for the year 2004, $303,035.93 for the year 2005 and $550,971.16 for the year 2006 — which totals to a staggering amount of $906,250.56 (£566,406).
This is not the first time Flav had a tax lien. Back in 2009, a tax lien was also filed against him by officials in California. The said bill was over $183,000 (£114,375).
Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., rose to fame as a member of the hip-hop group called “Public Enemy.” He is also known for popularizing the role of the hype man and for shouting “Yeah boy!” and “Flavor Flav!” during his performances.
After he disappeared from the public eye for a number of years, Flav reappeared again as the star of numerous VH1 reality series, such as “Strange Love” and “Flavor of Love.”
Back in 1984, Flav’s rap group released a track called “Public Enemy #1″, which brought them to the attention of Def Jam Records executive Rick Rubin. Rubin initially did not understand Flav’s role in the act and wanted to sign Chuck D as a solo act. However Chuck D insisted that Flav should be signed with them and the two were signed to Def Jam Records in 1986.
Public Enemy’s first album, “Yo! Bum Rush the Show,” was released in 1987. Flavor Flav served as the comic foil to the serious, politically charged style of Chuck D. The rap group became even more famous with their following release in 1988 called “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” which went double platinum. By the time the political single “Fight the Power” was issued in 1989, the group had become mainstream superstars.