Jermaine Dupri Sues Sony Music for $18 Million Over Decades of Unpaid Royalties

Jermaine Dupri is pulling back the curtain on major label accounting. On Monday, July 6, the So So Def founder, alongside So So Def Recordings and So So Def Productions, filed a lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment in Manhattan federal court. According to reporting from Baller Alert, the suit seeks more than $18 million, alleging a systemic pattern of underpaid royalties spanning a 32-year relationship. The filing, first reported by TMZ with breaking details from AllHipHop, lists a legendary roster of artists who soundtracked the nineties and aughts, including Mariah Carey, Usher, Kris Kross, Xscape, Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Bow Wow, J Kwon, and Bone Crusher. The lawsuit alleges that Sony underreported royalties, failed to report certain streams, and quietly amended old statements once questioned. The details are staggering. Dupri claims Sony concealed Kris Kross royalties for over 20 years in a separate accounting system, leaving him owed more than $2.2 million from the group's first two albums alone. Furthermore, despite Xscape's first two albums going platinum, the lawsuit states Sony listed a So So Def account as $1.5 million in the red as of June 2020. Dupri’s lawyers call it unfathomable that platinum records could fail to recoup thirty years later. The suit also claims Sony withheld over $1 million tied to Da Brat’s 1994 landmark Funkdafied. This is the ugly truth of the music business: you can generate $200 million in gross revenue, as So So Def reportedly did for Sony, and still get buried in creative ledger work. A 2025 desk audit by Gelfand, Rennert and Feldman triggered the filing. This case is a necessary reckoning for legacy creators who built these major label empires.