Megan Thee Stallion has accused her record label of blocking the release of her new music and has now taken legal action.
The ‘Hot Girl Summer’ rapper has explained that she tried to negotiate aspects of her contract with 1501 Certified Entertainment after signing a deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management – who she praised as “real” – who enlightened her to some of the clauses in the deal with the former label, and now she claims they aren’t allowing her to put out her new material.
Speaking to her fans on her Instagram Stories, she said: “When I signed, I didn’t really know what was in my contract. I was young, I think I was, like, 20. So when I got with Roc Nation [founded by Jay-Z], I got management, real management. I got real lawyers, and they were like, ‘Do you know that this is in your contract?’ And I was like, ‘Oh that’s crazy, no I didn’t know.’”
Megan added how things turned sour as soon as she tried to amend the contract. She continued: “As soon as I said I wanna renegotiate my contract, everything went left. It just went all bad. So now they’re telling a biatch she can’t drop any music. It’s really just, like, a greedy game.”
According to a report on Complex, ” the lawsuit spells out what Megan considers to be the worst parts of the deal she has with 1501. She says that she got a $10,000 advance when she signed and that the label gets 60 percent of her recording income. Of the 40 percent, she gets she still has to pay engineers, mixers, and other artists who are featured on the tracks.
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The report on Complex also points out, according to the contract 1501 has the right to 30% of the money Stallion makes from performances. That 30% number also goes for merchandising.
Billboard reports, Megan pointed out that money from touring and performances goes directly to 1501. Megan says they’re supposed to give her a statement for what she’s owed, but that their accounting has been “purposefully and deceptively vague.” The suit goes on to say that Megan has over one billion streams and 300,000 individual track downloads. That translates to around $7 million but the label has only paid her $15,000,
Megan has found support in her legion of fans who are rallying behind her in this difficult time. Many have taken to social media to pressure record label 1501 to free Megan from the exploitative contract. Using the #FreeTheStallion, it is only a matter of time for the record label group to buckle under the immense pressure.
The 25-year-old star – whose real name is Megan Pete – has insisted she is “not a greedy person” and doesn’t like “confrontation”.
She concluded: “I’m not a greedy person. I’m not a person that likes confrontation. I’m nice and I’m real family-oriented.”
Megan’s video posts come just hours after the label’s co-founder, Carl Crawford. has his say on the situation.
Alongside a video of himself with music executive J. Prince, he wrote on Instagram: “At a time when loyalty is at an all-time low it’s nice to be link with @jprincerespect who is steady teaching me how to move in this cutthroat industry. And I know that terrifies some especially the ones who double-cross me #Paybacksabitch #1501 #mobties “
When quizzed by a follower on whether she had read the small print correctly, Megan replied: “It’s not that I literally didn’t read it it’s that I didn’t understand some of the the verbiage at the time and now that I do I just wanted it corrected.”
So far this year, Megan has released ‘Diamonds’ with Normani and ‘B.I.T.C.H.’ According to a recent post on Twitter, the highly acclaimed female rapper has 2 records that have gone platinum.
According to TMZ, Harris County, Texas district judge is giving Megan a temporary restraining order which means her label can’t block music she plans to put out this Friday (6.03.2020). The matter is yet to be fully resolved, however, the court order gives Thee Stallion some leeway to continue with her music.
