#BayArea – It’s been eight years since her rapper son Mac Dre was shot to death leaving a Kansas City club, and Wanda Salvatto said Wednesday she is still searching for peace. The posthumous popularity of Mac Dre – born Andre Hicks – has skyrocketed since he was slain Nov. 1, 2004. This has been both a blessing and curse for his mother, who fans affectionately call “Mac Wanda.” The Vallejo resident has spent the past eight years trying to legitimize his career and his legacy.
She said she was shocked Wednesday when relatives and friends began calling her saying that newspapers and television were reporting that 25 people associated with Thizz Entertainment arrested last week had been charged with multiple counts of drug trafficking.
Since his death, Salvatto became owner and CEO of Thizz Entertainment, registering her corporation with the state and managing Mac Dre’s music catalog, which includes 25 albums and countless cameos on other artists’ tracks. The rappers caught up in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s four-year investigation were part of an offshoot label, Thizz Nation, she said.
“Thizz Entertainment is actually me. There are no artists signed to the label,” said Salvatto, who was not charged, or even mentioned, by federal authorities in their investigation.
“I worked very hard to clean up and maintain a legitimate label and business for my son. I don’t want to confuse what we do with our fans.”
City Hall Records, which has distributed independent recordings since 1973 in San Rafael, is an investor in Thizz Entertainment. “It’s a real business. It’s no gangster thing,” Walter Zelnick, vice president of purchasing, said of Thizz Entertainment. City Hall also distributes on behalf of Thizz Nation. Zelnick said Thizz Nation is run by Simon Curtis “Kilo Kurt” Nelson, a former partner of Mac Dre, and not by Michael Lott, who federal authorities allege assisted in running the record label along with a large drug distribution network.
A DEA spokeswoman said the agency stands by the sworn court documents it produced that led to U.S. Attorney charges implicating Thizz Entertainment. The documents also detail Mac Dre’s criminal history, his efforts to start the label and his death.
