Megan Thee Stallion to release song following judge’s ruling in label lawsuit
The Grammy-winning hip-hop star took legal action this week against 1501 Certified Entertainment
Megan Thee Stallion’s record label’s attempt to block the remix of her track “Butter” featuring superstar K-pop band BTS has been slapped down by a judge.
The three time Grammy-winning hip-hop star (born Megan Pete) filed a lawsuit in Harris County, Texas on Tuesday against 1501 Certified Entertainment in which she accused the record label of blocking the track from being released, according to documents obtained by Variety.
In the documents, Megan noted that to miss the release of the hotly anticipated remix would do “irreparable damage” to her music career and have a “devastating impact to her relationships with her fans and with other recording artists in the music industry.”
“The release of new music from Pete is vital to maintain her status as a relatively new but still up-and-coming artist,” the documents read, as reported by PEOPLE. “Absent immediate help from the Court, Pete’s art will be impacted, the release of the song derailed, and Pete’s goodwill, reputation, and overall career will suffer detrimental, undesirable, and irreversible harm.”
The filing also accuses the label’s CEO, Carl Crawford, of having done “nothing to help Pete grow her career in the music industry and have only put up roadblocks in an attempt to stifle her artistic expression as a music artist and irreparably harm her career. Today is no different.”
Megan previously sued 1501 in March 2020, accusing the label of actively blocking her from releasing new music, theGrio previously reported.
The Houston rapper made allegations during an Instagram Live session that she wasn’t fully educated on the terms of her contract when she signed with 1501. She recalled how when she asked to renegotiate the document she was instead barred from releasing new work.
Megan opted to file a lawsuit seeking to terminate her contract altogether, according to TMZ. The report said that Megan “claims the deal calls for 1501 Certified to get 60% of her recording income. The remaining 40% goes to her, but she has to use that to pay engineers, mixers and featured artists who work on the songs.”
The initial contract requires Megan’s touring and live performance earnings to be paid directly to the label. In turn, the label is meant to give her a detailed account of what she’s owed. But the entertainer believes what they’ve provided is not only incomplete but also “purposefully and deceptively vague.”
At the time, a temporary restraining order was granted to allow the release of new music and documents.
Crawford, former leftfielder for Major League Baseball, denied Meg’s allegations. He told Billboard that there has never been an attempt to interfere with Megan’s career.
“It’s a whole lie,” Crawford said. “Nothing is true that she said. Me being greedy and taking money from her, that’s crazy. I never tried to take nothing from her. The only thing we ever did was give, give, give.”
Crawford said his relationship with the rapper changed after she signed with JAY-Z’s Roc Nation in 2019. He alleged that Meg stopped returning his calls and refused to pay him for merchandise and live touring proceeds owed.
In his view, Jay Z and Roc Nation were trying to “stronghold” him and his label.
“Everybody in the industry knows this is what Jay-Z and Roc Nation do: They come in, the find the smallest things wrong with the problem — because there weren’t any problems before she left — and then she says that I didn’t want to negotiate?”
Following news of her latest legal victory against Crawford and1501, Meg took to Twitter to confirm that “Butter” is on track for release this Friday.
theGrio’s Blue Telusma contributed to this report.
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