Imagine helping create some of the most important songs of the last 30 years and getting underpaid for it. That’s why A Tribe Called Quest reminded us on “Check The Rhime”: “Industry rule number four-thousand-and-eighty/Record company people are shady.” Jermaine Dupri is experiencing this firsthand in his new battle with Sony.
The So So Def legend filed a lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment (per Complex), alleging decades of missing royalty payments. He only started noticing when the company began issuing new royalty statements back in 2023. After going through all the paperwork, he learned that he’s missing payments that would total up to eight figures.
Consequently, Jermaine Dupri ordered an audit last year. He claimed that it revealed that a staggering amount of money for big hits as far back as the 90s. Decades after working with Kris Kross, Xscape, Da Brat, and Jagged Edge, he learned that royalties were either missing or not paid out properly.
Additionally, Dupri alleged that royalties from his star-studded collaborations with Usher and Mariah Carey were incomplete as well. For his part in writing and producing the records, he’s seeking “no less than” $18 million in damages from Sony.
Jermaine Dupri Wants At Least $18 Million From Sony Over Unpaid Royalties
“[Sony Music Entertainment] concealed the fact that additional monies were due to Plaintiffs and altered royalty statements going back multiple years relating to recording artists Da Brat, Xscape, and Jagged Edge,” the lawsuit alleges.
“SME attempted to conceal all Kris Kross royalties due Plaintiffs for over 20 years in a separate royalty accounting system unknown to Plaintiffs. SME has understated royalties payable to So-So Def in connection with albums released by artists, including, but not limited to, Mariah Carey, Bow Wow, Usher, J-Kwon, Jermaine Dupri, and Bone Crusher. The amount of additional royalties due is yet to be determined.”
All of this lends back to how Jermaine Dupri feels about the late Clive Davis. Instead of dealing with massive amounts of unpaid royalties, he credited the late mogul for his impact on Black music. Working with everyone from Babyface to Whitney Houston solidified him in history and the culture, according to Dupri.
“And he really understood what Black music meant to the world and what Black music meant to the music business, right? That’s why his party was so popping. He was a white man with a party that had all the Black executives, all the Black artists, all the Black music wanted to be at a Clive Davis party,” Jermaine Dupri said in June 2026.
The post Jermaine Dupri Takes Sony to Court for Withholding Over 30 Years Worth of Royalties appeared first on VICE.
