Jermaine Dupri is taking Sony to court over a significant royalty dispute. The music executive and producer has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit claiming the label underpaid and withheld royalties owed to his record imprint, So So Def Recordings.
According to the complaint obtained by BlkCosmo, Jermaine Dupri and So So Def are challenging Sony’s accounting on a catalog spanning decades. The disputed releases include projects from Mariah Carey, Usher, Kris Kross, Jagged Edge, Bow Wow, Xscape, and Da Brat, among others.
The discrepancies allegedly surfaced in 2023 when Sony began issuing revised royalty statements. A 2025 audit then revealed what Dupri’s team describes as years of accounting errors, missing royalties, and previously unreported earnings. So So Def is demanding approximately $18 million in damages, with additional interest potentially bringing the total higher.
The lawsuit details specific shortfalls across releases from Kris Kross, Xscape, Da Brat, and Jagged Edge, alleging Sony failed to issue full royalty payments on these projects. For work involving Mariah Carey and Usher, Dupri claims underpayment on production credits as well, though the total owed on those projects is still being calculated.
Dupri’s complaint characterizes this as a pattern spanning decades, with Sony allegedly underreporting and withholding royalties systematically across So So Def’s catalog.
The case represents one of the larger recent disputes between a major label and an independent imprint over royalty accounting. It also reflects growing scrutiny of how legacy deals are handled when older catalogs are reaudited or financial systems are updated.
This one’s far from settled. Expect this to play out in court for some time.
★★★
