LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Live entertainment giant AEG has filed legal claims against rapper Young Thug, accusing him of violating a contractual agreement by selling his music catalog for $16 million without their consent, despite owing millions in unpaid loans.
According to AllHipHop, the dispute stems from a $5.25 million loan AEG issued in 2017 to Young Thug’s label, YSL. As part of the agreement, over 400 musical compositions were designated as collateral, and AEG was granted exclusive global rights to promote Young Thug’s live performances. Additionally, YSL and Young Thug were required to share concert revenue from third-party promoters.
AEG alleges that Young Thug, whose legal name is Jeffery Williams, defaulted on the loan in 2019, leaving nearly $5 million unpaid. Despite this, he allegedly sold a significant portion of his music catalog in 2021 for $16 million. The buyer of the catalog remains undisclosed, though Young Thug signed a global publishing deal with Kobalt Music the same year for future works and his earlier catalog was tied to Reservoir under a 2018 agreement.
AEG claims the sale violated the lending agreement and that Williams misled buyers by asserting the compositions were free of legal obligations. The company also alleges that Williams and YSL misrepresented their financial ability to fulfill repayment obligations.
Legal proceedings were paused in 2022 after Williams was incarcerated on unrelated charges in Georgia. Following his recent plea deal, which resulted in 15 years of probation, AEG has resumed its efforts to recover the loan balance and earnings tied to the catalog sale.
AEG has initiated discovery efforts, including subpoenas and public records searches, to trace the current ownership of the copyrights and track how the proceeds from the sale were distributed.
The company is reportedly considering expanding its legal claims to include additional parties or exploring alternative strategies to recover the collateral within the next six months.
