Megan Thee Stallion Demands $1 Million In Legal Battle With Record Label

Megan Thee Stallion continues to seek freedom from her record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. According to Rolling Stone, the rapper recently filed an amended complaint requesting that her past two full-length releases, Traumazine and Something for Thee Hotties, count as studio albums. She is also requesting $1 million in damages from the label. If a Harris County judge rules in Megan’s favor, the rapper will have officially fulfilled her contractual obligations to 1501 Certified in accordance to the recording agreement she signed in 2018.

1501 Certified Entertainment refutes the notion that Something for Thee Hotties “meets the requirements” for a studio album. The label argues that the inclusion of “freestyles available on YouTube and archival material from as far back as 2019″ are indicators that the project does not constitute an album. According to the record label, Megan’s contractual agreement stipulates that an album has to “include at least twelve new master recordings of her studio performances of previously-unreleased musical compositions.”

The label also reportedly scoffed at Megan’s request for $1 million in compensatory damages, claiming that she still owes 1501 Certified Entertainment “many millions” in revenue accrued from touring, endorsements, merchandising, and acting roles. “I think she did that for the impact,” Steven Zager, a legal rep for 1501 Certified Entertainment, told Rolling Stone of Megan’s demands. “I think at the end of the day, Megan owes 1501 lot more money that she claims 1501 owes her.”

While 1501 Certified Entertainment is adamant about Something for Thee Hotties not counting as an album, Zager notes the label is open to giving that consideration to Traumazine, Thee Stallion’s sophomore studio album, which was released in August. “We want to really analyze the new album,” Zager said. “We don’t want to be unreasonable.” Zager also responded to allegations of piracy of Traumazine against 1510 Certified Entertainment, as Thee Stallion says a leak occurred shortly after the label was given a link to the project prior to its release.

“There’s not a shred of evidence that we leaked Traumazine” he said in his clients’ defense. “I don’t even think my guys would know how to leak it. Nor can I think of a motive. We participate with Megan in the profits. Why would we want to do that? It’s coming completely out of left field.” Megan Thee Stallion believes otherwise, revealing that she’s “hired forensic investigators to try to determine the source of the leaks” in the amended complaint against the label.

Megan Thee Stallion’s beef with 1501 Certified Entertainment initially drew headlines in 2020, when the rapper first filed a suit against the label. The rapper accused the label of signing her to a “one-sided” contract in which the label allegedly took an exorbitant percentage of her recording income, as well as a sizable portion of her revenue from touring and merchandising.

Megan also says she was forced to compensate producers and other parties out of her own budget under the terms of the initial agreement, which has since been amended after a settlement in March 2021. Owner Carl Crawford and 1501 Certified Entertainment have accused Megan’s management team, Roc Nation, of meddling in their dealings with the rap star in hopes of taking full control of her career. Megan credited Roc Nation with educating her on the questionable terms of her contract, which she admits to being unaware of prior to joining Roc Nation in 2019.

“When I got with Roc Nation, I got management – real management – and real lawyers,” Megan said shortly after filing suit against her label. “They were like, ‘Do you know that this is in your contract?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, damn, that’s crazy. No, I didn’t know.’”

Megan Thee Stallion is scheduled to appear in court for a deposition in October. The civil suit isn’t expected to go to trial until Summer 2023, according to Zager.