LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 02: Megan Thee Stallion attends the premiere of STARZ season 2 of "P-Valley" at Avalon Hollywood & Bardot on June 02, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
Megan Thee Stallion notched another legal victory this week, this time earning a small win in an ongoing contract battle with her record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, and it’s owner, Carl Crawford.
On Wednesday, a Texas judge sided with the Houston rapper and rejected the label’s request to rule that her 2021 project “Something For Thee Hotties” doesn’t count as an official album under her recording contract, according to Rolling Stone.
The judge ultimately denied the motion for a pre-trial ruling, allowing Megan’s $1 million lawsuit against the label to go to trial, which if she wins, will have fulfilled her contract with 1501 and be granted her long sought-after release from the record label.
In September, the company – founded by former professional baseball player Carl Crawford – had filed its request where they requested the court to forgo a trial and deem the project in question a non-album, thus leaving Meg’s contract unfulfilled, the outlet reports.
The label argued that the 45-minute compilation, released on October 29, 2021, by 300 Entertainment and 1501 Certified as a “thank you” gift to Megan’s fanbase, included previously-used material and “failed to follow the proper approval procedures” for an official album release.
The 27-year-old claimed she had already fully complied with the terms of her record deal in her response filed on December 19, and that she deserved to argue her case at trial.
Meg, who’s real name is Megan Pete, argued that the material included on the “Something For Thee Hotties” project doesn’t count as previously released material, due to the fact that they were never distributed to the public commercially, according to the outlet.
She also alleged that her distribution deal with 300 Entertainment “kept 1501 apprised of developments” while she finished the project, and even provided them with a copy of it three days before its release.
Meg claims that 1501 “asserted no objection” at the time, and only did so two months after the album was released in October 2021.
In February, she filed the lawsuit “seeking a declaration that her album ‘Something For Thee Hotties’ constituted an ‘album’ as defined in the parties’ recording agreement,” which she had signed before gaining mainstream success back in 2018.
The following month, 1501 countersued claiming she was in breach of contract and owes the label “many millions” in royalties for non-recording revenue earned from sponsorships, collaborations and other engagements.
Megan amended her initial complaint to include her album “Traumazine,” which was released in August, and requested that a judge rule that she “has satisfied all option periods” in her contract with 1501, while also asking for at least $1 million in damages, the Rolling Stone reports.
She first sued 1501 back in March 2020, when she asserted they blocked her from releasing music while refusing to renegotiate or end her contract, something she called “entirely unconscionable.”
Her management company, Roc Nation, were the first to make her aware that 1501 had been taking 60 percent of her profits instead of the 50-50 industry standard.
This most recent legal victory comes just over a week after Tory Lanez was convicted of shooting her in the foot back in July 2020 after a high-profile 10-day trial in Los Angeles.
The Shade Room reported that a jury found Tory guilty on all three counts: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence.
Lanez, who is set to be sentenced next month, faces up to 22 years and eight months in federal prison, as well as deportation to Canada.
