The hip-hop mogul’s streaming service Tidal has
been slapped with a $50 million lawsuit filed by Lil Wayne’s label Cash Money
Records over music released by Weezy on Tidal.
The suit, filed in New York Supreme Court on
Thursday, actually lists Aspiro AB, WiMP Music AS and Wimp, Inc. —
described as
owners and/or operators of Tidal — as defendants.
The suit alleges that Birdman-founded Cash Money
Records struck an exclusive recording deal with Lil Wayne — real name Dwayne
Michael Carter — in 1998, an agreement that was violated by Tidal’s release of
the rapper’s 2014 song “Glory” and earlier this month, his “FWA” album.
“FWA” streamed on Tidal July 3, and included 16
songs that had not yet been released by the label.
The lawsuit claims that Tidal poached Lil Wayne
in “a desperate and illegal attempt to save their struggling streaming
service.”
Perhaps even worse, the complaint cites “tepid
reviews” for “FWA” including a Spin review that called the album an “uneven
grab bag that quickly goes awry and fails to cohere.” Ouch.
(Full disclosure: The lawsuit also cites an article on Tidal
published by The Wrap, which is not a party to the suit.)
Cash Money says it has invested heavily in Lil
Wayne’s career, paying him “tens of millions of dollars.”
Claiming tortuous interference with contract,
unfair competition, conversion and other counts, the suit is asking for
monetary damages of no less than $20 million and $30 million in punitive
damages. Cash Money also wants an injunction ordering the defendants to remove
Lil Wayne’s music from Tidal.
A spokesperson for Jay Z has not yet responded
to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this story.
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