Bankrupt rapper Young Buck told to sell his name

He still wears diamond earrings, a gold medallion and the chunkiest of diamond-encrusted watches, but the hip-hop artist Young Buck could be about to lose one of his most valuable possessions: his name.

A court in Tennessee has ruled that the performer, born David Darnell Brown, must liquidate his assets, including his trademarked stage persona, to settle debts of $11m. That could mean having to pay whoever bought it for the right to record under his own name – or even see another musician using it.

Brown, 30, has been suffering financial difficulties since falling out with 50 Cent, whose record label G-Unit launched his career with the album Straight Outta Cashville, which sold two million copies in 2004.

Brown told The Tennessean he was negotiating a contract with a new record label to repay his debts. But the court order forcing him to sell "Young Buck" has jeopardised that arrangement. "It's ridiculous," he complained. "[Even] my mother calls me Young Buck."