T-Pain has filed a major lawsuit against Akon’s Konvict Entertainment. In the suit, T-Pain cites being owed nearly $500,000 in unpaid royalties.
The 80-page filing was obtained by XXL, which reports that it was filed in Fulton County Superior Court on September 4, 2026. According to the lawsuit, T-Pain alleges that he is owed $489,047 from a $1.3 million royalty payment that Konvict Entertainment received from Zomba Recordings—a distribution company—on March 30, 2026.
The lawsuit claims T-Pain’s team made multiple attempts to collect the royalties but was unsuccessful. A few months later, on June 2, the “Church” singer was advised to reach out to BuVision. This is an independent label that is managed by Akon’s younger brother, Abou “Bu” Thiam. He says he was told this is where he could collect the outstanding balance.
T-Pain claims that he made several attempts to obtain the royalty Revenue he says he’s owed
T-Pain alleges that he and his team attempted to contact BuVision on June 12. However, they were not able to make contact, so the singer felt he had no choice but to file a lawsuit against Konvict Entertainment. T-Pain is seeking to be awarded the remaining $489,047.76 he’s owed, plus prejudgment interest. He’s also asking for his attorney fees to be paid.
Notably, this is the second time T-Pain has sued Akon’s label. He did once before in 2018, over violation of their original 2005 recording agreement terms. XXL reports that T-Pain also accused Konvict Entertainment in 2025 of not meeting these terms.
T-Pain and Akon go way back
Before their legal troubles, T-Pain and Akon seemed like close working creative partners in the music industry. T-Pain had initially been signed to Akon’s label as a songwriter prior to launching a solo career.
He even penned two big songs that showed up on Akon’s multi-platinum 2006 album, Konvicted: “I Can’t Wait” and “Holla Holla”. Akon later featured on T-Pain’s 2007 mega-hit “Bartender”, from his sophomore album, Epiphany.
At this time, it appears that neither T-Pain nor Akon has publicly addressed the lawsuit.
Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for BET
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