Rapper Bigga calls claims in lawsuit ‘100 percent false'

Rapper Mike Bigga denied claims he held a man hostage or attacked him in an Atlanta record studio owned by fellow musician T.I.

A lawsuit filed against T.I. and others in Fulton County alleges Bigga, whose real name is Michael Render, was at Echo Studios when several other men held Norris Gresham hostage for 12 hours after a gold diamond encrusted chain and medallion disappeared. Gresham said in the lawsuit that he was beaten and held at gunpoint because he said another man -- Jonathan Carle, who also goes by the name Spodee – had taken it and hidden it the tiled ceiling.

Gresham’s lawsuit names T.I., also known as Clifford Harris, because he owns the studio and some of the people there work for him. The suit filed in Fulton County on Monday said T.I. was sent e-mails, text messages and videos as the alleged attack was happening and did nothing to stop it.

Gresham said he lost two teeth during the attack inside a walled, locked area outside the building. "It was like a cock fight," Antonio Thomas, Gresham's lawyer, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday. "He was beaten up very seriously... and a gun [was] put to his head."

A police report was filed. Carle was arrested on Oct. 1 and released on $25,000 bond on Oct. 5.

Bigga declined in an interview Wednesday to talk about the Sept. 8 incident because a lawsuit has been filed.

But he wrote in an e-mail “These allegations are 100 percent false…While I don’t want these false allegations to tarnish my legacy as a rapper, I’m far more concerned with the impact this will have on the youth I frequently mentor and counsel.”

Bigga also forward an exchange that he had on Facebook.com with Gresham less than two weeks after the incident. Gresham, who is  an artist and a technician at Echo and occasionally helps set up a entertainment venues, acknowledged in that exchange that Bigga was not involved.

“We cool and I know u had nothing to do with this cuz,” Gresham wrote according to the Facebook link Bigga provided.

Bigga, who attended Fredrick Douglas High School and Morehouse College, wrote in his statement that he was concerned the claims in the lawsuit could damage his efforts to be a role model for kids as well as his involvement in politics.

“I have worked endlessly as a youth advocate and community activist for people who hold the least amount of power – well before my career in rap,” Bigga wrote. “Everything I stand for is about being positive and productive, and I strongly believe in setting the right example for young people…[and] to promote a positive platform with youth and to discourage negativity and violence.”

According to the suit, Bigga couldn’t find a gold diamond encrusted chain and medallion. While they looked for the necklace, Gresham said he was held captive for 12 hours, threatened and interrogated at the Defoor Place facility.

"It started because of him," Thomas, the lawyer, said.

At one point, Bigga sent text messages offering a “1k reward for information regarding the item.”

Also, Nathaniel Josey, who went by the name “Mac Boney;” was sending T.I. text messages and e-mails, updating him on what was happening at Echo Studios, according to the suit.

Eventually the jewelry was found hidden in a ceiling.  Carle suspected Gresham had told Bigga that Carle took it.

“Spodee because upset and disturbed,” the lawsuit said.