Jermaine Dupri sues Sony Music over alleged $18 million royalty dispute involving So So Def artists

Atlanta music executive Jermaine Dupri and his So So Def companies are suing Sony Music Entertainment, accusing the record label of improperly handling royalty payments tied to a decades-long business relationship.

The lawsuit, filed July 6 and amended July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges Sony underpaid, failed to properly report and withheld millions of dollars in royalties connected to recordings by artists including Kris Kross, Xscape, Da Brat and Jagged Edge.

Dupri and So So Def are seeking at least $18 million in damages, along with interest and attorneys' fees, according to the complaint.

So far, Sony Music Entertainment has not filed a response to the complaint. 

According to the lawsuit, Dupri and his companies discovered the alleged royalty issues after a 2025 audit conducted by accounting firm Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman.

According to the complaint, the parties entered a tolling agreement in November 2025 after So So Def raised concerns about approximately $18 million in allegedly unpaid royalties.

The complaint alleges Sony engaged in a pattern of financial reporting problems, including underreporting royalties, failing to report certain royalties, changing royalty statements years later, using incorrect royalty rates and improperly withholding payments.

The lawsuit also alleges Sony improperly used unrecouped balances, money a label claims is still owed from previous expenses, to offset royalty payments that should have been paid.

Kris Kross royalty dispute

One of the largest claims in the lawsuit involves Kris Kross, the Atlanta rap duo known for the 1992 hit "Jump."

The complaint alleges Sony failed to properly report producer and override royalties from Kris Kross' first two albums, Totally Krossed Out and Da Bomb.

According to the lawsuit, Sony did not provide royalty statements for those projects until 2023, and Dupri's companies claim they are owed more than $2.2 million related to those recordings.

The complaint also alleges Sony later produced statements showing more than $33 million in foreign sales connected to Kris Kross royalty accounts and maintained those royalties in a separate accounting system that So So Def did not know existed.

Claims involving Xscape, Da Brat and Jagged Edge

The lawsuit also details royalty disputes involving several other artists connected to Dupri and So So Def. Dupri claims So So Def is owed more than $10 million in interest on unpaid royalties tied to Xscape, Kris Kross and Da Brat projects.

For Xscape, the complaint alleges Sony underreported producer royalties from the group's 1993 album "Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha" and owes more than $960,000 related to that project.

The lawsuit also alleges Sony underreported production-share royalties by more than $144,000 through incorrect calculations and underreported producer royalties from Xscape's album "Off the Hook" by more than $22,000.

For Da Brat, the complaint alleges Sony underreported producer royalties from her 1994 album Funkdafied and owes more than $1 million related to that recording. The lawsuit also alleges additional royalties may be owed from her album "Anuthatantrum," though damages have not been determined.

The lawsuit alleges Sony began reporting previously unreported royalties connected to Jagged Edge's 1997 album "The Jagged Era" in statements issued in 2023. The complaint claims those statements only covered royalties dating back to 2007, leaving earlier royalties unaccounted for. 

Dispute over Sony's royalty practices

The complaint challenges Sony's handling of unrecouped balances.

The lawsuit cites an Xscape account that showed an unrecouped balance of about $1.53 million as of 2020. Dupri's companies allege Sony withheld more than $1 million in royalties generated between 2020 and 2024 because of that balance.

The plaintiffs argue those balances should have been forgiven under Sony Music's 2021 Artists Forward Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program.

The lawsuit alleges Sony's failure to apply the program resulted in approximately $1 million in payments that were not made. The complaint also identifies potential royalty issues involving artists and projects connected to So So Def, including: Mariah Carey, Usher, Bow Wow, Bone Crusher, Anthony Hamilton and more. 

Dupri and his companies are seeking compensatory damages, interest, attorneys' fees and a jury trial.