It’s a tale as old as time: a musician slowly realizes the math isn’t right and he or she isn’t getting paid quite what they were promised for their music. It’s happened to everybody, from Lil Wayne and Drake to Tupac and everybody who has ever worked with Diddy or Birdman. The latest rapper to take the powers that be to court over the dreaded unpaid royalties is neither surprising nor groundbreaking. TMZ reports that Wu-Tang member U-God has brought forward allegations that the group owes him at least $2.5 million in unpaid royalties.
The complaint comes after U-God reportedly didn’t receive any royalty payments from his work with the group in over six years. According to the report, U-God, born Lamont Hawkins, was due to receive two annual payments for his share of Wu-Tang merchandising as well and has yet to receive those either.
U-God alleges that he’s contributed to “about 170 tracks” since the group’s inception in 1993 and that RZA and his brother Mitchell Diggs are abusing their power as the group’s founders. He also says he has yet to receive his share of the proceeds of the $2 million Once Upon A Time In Shaolin album that was purchased by Martin Shkreli late last year. The $2.5 million U-God is seeking is from a combination of all those revenue streams and if I know anything about unpaid royalties lawsuits, this will drag on for some time.
