Jermaine Dupri Sues Sony for $18 Million in Royalties

Music producer and hip-hop icon Jermaine Dupri has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment, alleging the company systematically failed to pay royalties owed from a decades-long partnership. The complaint, filed on July 6, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks at least $18 million in damages, plus interest and legal fees.

Dupri and his companies, So So Def Recordings and So So Def Productions, claim Sony breached contracts and underpaid royalties for more than 30 years. The lawsuit alleges Sony underreported royalty income, omitted entire royalty streams, and later amended old accounting statements after discrepancies were discovered. The dispute involves royalties from recordings by major artists associated with So So Def, including Kris Kross, Xscape, Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Usher, Mariah Carey, Bow Wow, J-Kwon, and Bone Crusher.

A central allegation focuses on royalties from the first two Kris Kross albums, "Totally Krossed Out" and "Da Bomb." The complaint states Sony did not report any producer or override royalties for those recordings until 2023 and still owes more than $2.2 million from them. It accuses...