A prominent ’90s hip-hop duo is suing Universal Music Group for withholding royalties tied to what they’re alleging is a “sweetheart” deal the label reached with Spotify in the late 2000s.

Filed Wednesday (Jan. 4) in U.S. district court in New York by attorneys representing Andres Titus (Dres) and William McLean (Mista Lawnge), members of the hip-hop duo Black Sheep, the lawsuit claims UMG owes its artists approximately $750 million in royalties deriving from the company’s stock in Spotify. Under a licensing deal they claim UMG and the streaming giant reached in 2008, the label agreed to receive lower royalty payments in exchange for equity in the then-nascent streaming company. But Titus and McLean say the label breached their contract with Black Sheep and other artists by withholding what they argue is the artists’ rightful 50% share of UMG’s now-lucrative Spotify stock — and otherwise failing to compensate them for the lower royalty payments they received as a result of the alleged deal.

“Rather than distribute to artists their 50% of Spotify stock or pay artists their true and accurate royalty payments, for years Universal shortchanged artists and deprived Plaintiffs and Class Members of the full royalty payments they were owed under Universal’s contract,” the complaint reads. Titus and McLean further claim that Universal deliberately omitted from royalty statements both the company’s ownership of Spotify stock and the lower streaming royalty payments that resulted from its alleged deal with the streaming service.

“Over time, the value of the Spotify stock that Universal improperly withheld from artists has ballooned to hundreds of millions of dollars,” the complaint continues. “These and the other wrongful conduct detailed herein resulted in the Company’s breaching its contracts with artists, violating the covenant of good faith and fair dealing that is implicit in those contracts, and unjust enrichment at the expense of its artists.”

In a statement sent to Billboard, a UMG spokesperson denied Titus and McLean’s claims: “Universal Music Group’s innovative leadership has led to the renewed growth of the music ecosystem to the benefit of recording artists, songwriters and creators around the world. UMG has a well-established track record of fighting for artist compensation and the claim that it would take equity at the expense of artist compensation is patently false and absurd. Given that this is pending litigation, we cannot comment on all aspects of the complaint.”

According to the lawsuit, Titus and McLean signed a record contract with Polygram in July 1990 (later amended and revised in July 1991) as Black Sheep — the duo best known for the hit rap single “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)” from their RIAA Gold-selling 1991 album A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Black Sheep’s record contract was then assumed by UMG after the company merged with Polygram in 1998.

UMG acquired just over 5% of Spotify shares “in or around the summer of 2008” in a licensing agreement in exchange for lower royalty payments, the complaint adds, citing a 2018 Music Business Worldwide report. It claims that Universal acquired additional Spotify shares through its 2011 purchase of EMI, which had acquired shares in the streaming company around the same time, the suit alleges. It then cites UMG’s own prospectus, released in September 2021, revealing that the label held roughly 6.49 million, or roughly 3.35%, of Spotify shares as of June 30, 2021, valued at 1.475 billion euros ($1.79 billion).

It’s worth noting that UMG’s stake in Spotify has become significantly less lucrative since June 30, 2021, however. As of Wednesday’s closing price, UMG’s stake in Spotify is now worth just $560 million — the result of Spotify shares falling 70.5% over the past 18 months. Notably, Spotify isn’t the only streaming service UMG has equity in; according to the same prospectus, it also owns 0.73% of Tencent Music Entertainment shares, a stake that’s currently worth $112.5 million.

Included as an exhibit in the complaint is Black Sheep’s amended July 1991 contract with Polygram, which states that royalties paid to Titus and McLean “‘shall be a sum equal to fifty percent (50%) of [Universal’s] net receipts with respect to’ the ‘exploitation’ for any ‘use or exploitation’ of ‘Master Recordings’ created by Plaintiffs.” The plaintiffs claim they and other UMG artists are thereby entitled to 50% of the labels’ Spotify stock but that UMG has failed to pay it. This demand stems from a couple of broad assumptions: that all artists in the class signed similar contracts and that they were similarly not compensated with a portion of UMG’s stock holdings in Spotify.

The plaintiffs are asking for compensatory damages, punitive damages and an injunction “or other appropriate equitable relief” requiring UMG “to refrain from engaging in deceptive practices” as outlined in the lawsuit.

UMG isn’t alone among the major labels in acquiring Spotify stock — both Sony and Warner Music, as well as indie Merlin, also have or had stakes in the company. In May 2018, Sony sold half of its 5.707% stake in Spotify for an estimated $761 million, while that same month Merlin announced it sold its entire stake for an unknown amount and had shared the proceeds with its members. Warner followed suit in August 2018 when it sold its entire 2% stake in the streamer for $504 million, with the company announcing that around $126 million of the proceeds would be paid out to the company’s artists.

UMG has yet to sell any of its stock in the streaming giant.

-Additional reporting by Glenn Peoples

You can read the full lawsuit below.

Cardi B expressed her frustration over United States inflation, which has led to a surge in prices when it comes to eggs, poultry, produce and more.

“Naaaaaa grocery shopping prices are ridiculous right now,” the “I Like It” rapper tweeted on Tuesday (Jan. 3). “You might as well eat outside !!”

She followed up by noting that lettuce costs six dollars in her area, along with a clip of Remy Ma saying, “This is where I’m starting to get aggravated.”

Cardi is no stranger to giving her opinions on economic, social and political issues online. In her sit-down with David Letterman on the fourth season of the chat legend’s Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Cardi explained her reasoning behind voicing her opinions.

“I think people in your position have a strength in terms of political activism and changing the world and changing the way people feel and think, not only about themselves, but the problems of the world at large is wonderful,” Letterman tells the rapper.

“I don’t really put a lot of political things in my music, but I used the f–k out of my platform,” she responded. “And I have used my platform even when I was a dancer. Because you might think that people are not looking, but they are.”

She continued, “I mean, I’m a hood chick, and I’m from the Bronx. A lot of people relate to me and follow me because they want to see how I’m dressed, they want to see my lifestyle. I feel like I have a responsibility to also share to them like, ‘Hey, while you here and you’re checking my outfit and checking my music, check out what’s going on over here in this part of the world.’”

As 2023 gets underway, Lady A member Charles Kelley has been looking back on 2022, which he called “a big year of change” in a recent Instagram post.

In August 2022, Lady A announced they were putting their Request Line Tour on hold in order to support Kelley on his sobriety journey.

“We are a band, but more importantly … we’re family,” the trio wrote via a statement at the time. “We’re proud to say that Charles has embarked on a journey to sobriety. So, right now in order to be the healthiest, strongest and most creative band we can be, Lady A will take the time with the support of our families and team of professionals to walk through this together. It’s early on this road, but we are determined to do what will best set us up for many more years together. We are grateful for your patience.”

In a new interview with Men’s Health, Kelley opened up about his previous attempts at sobriety and what has made this time different.

Kelley noted that he had been trying to stop drinking on his own since January 2022, following a vacation in Greece with his wife Cassie and several friends. This marked his third attempt at sobriety. Kelley made his first attempt more than six years ago. As with his previous sobriety attempts, Kelley has the full support of his Lady A bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood. Kelley said that this attempt at sobriety has been different, noting, “This is the first time I actually put tools in place.”

When Kelley revealed his plan to one of Lady A’s managers, Callie Cunningham Nobel, she connected with Tennessee nonprofit Porter’s Call, which helps music artists with care and resources. One day later, Kelley went into a treatment center.

Kelley also pointed out a few of the advantages he’s experienced since cutting out alcohol — namely feeling better, having more energy and being in better shape.

“It’s amazing what not drinking will do,” Kelley told the outlet. “You save yourself, I’m ashamed to say, anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 calories a day in booze — you’re bound to lose some weight. But I look back at pictures from just three months ago. It’s my face, my midsection. I’ve found that it all goes hand in hand. When I’m not drinking, I feel better. So then I work out.” 

Kelley has found different things to turn to, such as ice cream and LaCroix (Kelley told the outlet that he drinks an estimated 15 cans of LaCroix water per day).

“My wife bought me an ice cream maker, and I unapologetically every night will destroy almost a pint of ice cream. I’m just like, ‘Listen, I gotta have something,’” he said.

Kelley also released what he calls “a goodbye letter to alcohol” with the song “As Far As You Could,” which he wrote with Haywood and Jimmy Robbins.

Lady A and their team are now working through setting up tour logistics, and Kelley says he is approaching the upcoming tour similarly to how he saw some other artists approach their tours — with no alcohol allowed on buses and backstage.

“They’ve been doing this thing for 15, 20 years and are in the same spot that I’m in right now,” Kelley said. “What do you want out of this life? Do you want to wreck your family and your career? Or do you want to put some things into place to keep it successful?”

YoungBoy Never Broke Again will release his new album I Rest My Case on Friday, Jan. 6, Billboard can confirm.

I Rest My Case marks the rapper’s first release since he signed to Motown Records in October. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native broke out in 2015 and signed to Atlantic two years later, going on to become one of music’s top acts. Since, he’s charted 24 albums on the Billboard 200 — 11 that were top 10, four of which hit No. 1.

Just last year, YoungBoy debuted six projects on the chart — five solo endeavors and one collaborative set with DaBaby (Better Than You). He’s charted four top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 in 2022 — more top 10s than any other act this year — and has released four albums in the past two months: The Last Slimeto, Realer 2, 3800 Degrees and Ma I Got a Family.

His most recent studio album, The Last Slimeto, topped Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

Take a look at the cover art below.