Trouble In Producer Paradise

Producer Scott Storch, 34, who has produced tracks for Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, 50 Cent and Chris Brown, was issued an arrest warrant after failing to show up in court in a child-support case in June and allegedly owing more than $500,000 in real estate taxes.

Scorch allegedly failed to pay his 2006 or 2007 real estate taxes and, at the start of the year, was accused of not making child support payments to both of the mothers of his two kids. Both mothers in separate cases sued him.

A few years ago, Storch was on top of the world, reportedly making $100,000 per beat, producing hits with Beyoncé’s “Naughty Girl,” Terror Squad’s “Lean Back,” 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” and Chris Brown’s “Run It.” He worked with Dr. Dre on hits including “Still D.R.E.” and produced seven tracks on Christina Aguilera’s Stripped album.

A Rolling Stone profile called him “hip-hop’s Liberace” and said he had earned $70 million. The producer dated Paris Hilton and Lil’ Kim and resided in a $10.5 million mansion on an exclusive Miami island.

Storch still has the mansion but his lawyer, Guy Spiegelman, says he’s attempting to refinance it after a “catastrophic occurrence this year” resulting from “mismanagement.” Although he’s produced tracks on recent albums by Mariah Carey and Fat Joe, he hasn’t had a Top 10 hit since 2005.

What went wrong? Some say the fame went to his head as he flaunted his status and wasn’t shy about spending his dough. He had a public fight with Aguilera over the cost of a private jet to fly him out to produce her ’06 album, Back to Basics, and traded insults with Timbaland, who called Storch “just the piano man” on one track.

Others say it may be a more personal problem, as he has looked gaunt and unhealthy when recently seen in public. He was known to have a taste for marijuana and in 2004 was fined for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

Or maybe the sound that everyone wanted for their record grew old.

Then again, the economy and downsized music industry haven’t made things easy on anyone, especially those who lived the high life with the likes of Paris Hilton and didn’t save any money for a rainy day.