NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Hip-Hop duo Black Sheep (Andres “Dres” Titus and William “Mista Lawnge” McLean) have filed suit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over alleged unpaid Spotify stock royalties totaling $750 million. Titus and McLean claim they have been cheated out of royalties due to a “sweetheart” licensing deal their label entered into with Spotify in 2008.
Yahoo reports Black Sheep filed a federal class action lawsuit against the global music corporation. The duo alleged UMG knowingly negotiated lower royalty payments from Spotify for UMG’s own benefit. “For approximately a decade, Universal omitted from the royalty statements Universal issued to plaintiffs that it had received Spotify stock in connection with the ‘use or exploitation’ of Black Sheep recordings,” reads a section of the legal filing.
The suit also states, “As a result of its continuing contractual breaches, Universal has unlawfully retained approximately $750 million in royalties that should have been paid to plaintiffs and the class.”
Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)” single hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Rap Singles chart. The track is on A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing album from 1991.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing earned a Gold Award from the RIAA. The album catalog also includes 1994’s Non-Fiction. Both albums were released via Mercury Records, a subsidiary of UMG.
