{"id":2202630,"date":"2026-10-16T18:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T15:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2202630"},"modified":"2026-10-16T18:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T15:47:12","slug":"cordae-faces-25-million-lawsuit-claiming-anderson-paak-collab-album-breaches-record-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2202630","title":{"rendered":"Cordae Faces $25 Million Lawsuit Claiming Anderson .Paak Collab Album Breaches Record Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1179274049-e1792175494672.jpg?w=1024&#8243;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"a-content a-content--featured a-bb-pro-article-image-offsets a-bbpro-font-body-m a-dropcap\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<div class=\"pmc-contextual-player\" data-pmc-adm-ad-id=\"10140328\">\n<h3>\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tA new lawsuit alleges rapper Cordae is violating his exclusive record deal by teaming up with Anderson .Paak for their upcoming collaborative album <em>Heavy is the Crown<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tCordae was sued Thursday (Oct. 15) by MMMG Inc., a Florida-based label that claims to have sole rights to the rapper\u2019s recordings. MMMG says Cordae is flouting that contract by instead releasing <em>Heavy is the Crown<\/em>, out Oct. 23, via Anderson .Paak\u2019s label APESHIT, Mass Appeal and EMPIRE.<\/p>\n<div class=\"injected-related-story \/\/ lrv-u-align-items-center u-align-items-flex-start@mobile-max  lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest  lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column@mobile-max u-width-710@desktop lrv-u-margin-lr-auto lrv-u-margin-tb-1 u-margin-b-250@mobile-max u-margin-t-275@mobile-max u-margin-t-250@desktop u-margin-b-250@desktop u-margin-lr-n1@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-1 lrv-u-border-color-brand-secondary-dark lrv-u-border-t-1 lrv-u-padding-tb-1  lrv-u-padding-tb-1@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-r-1@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-l-00@mobile-max u-grid-gap-18@desktop u-grid-gap-0@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-text-align-center lrv-u-flex-shrink-0 lrv-u-padding-a-050 u-padding-l-0625@mobile-max u-padding-b-0.375@mobile-max  lrv-u-background-color-brand-primary u-margin-t-n2@mobile-max lrv-u-margin-l-1@mobile-max lrv-u-margin-b-075@mobile-max\">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  a-article-related-module-title a-article-related-module-title--color-brand-primary a-font-accent-xl u-font-weight-800 u-letter-spacing-0179 u-line-height-normal lrv-u-color-grey-dark bb-pro-related-stories-label lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"injected-related-story-wrapper lrv-u-flex lrv-u-justify-content-space-between  a-children-border-vertical a-children-border--grey a-children-border-width-050\">\n<div class=\"o-card  lrv-u-width-100p\">\n<div class=\"o-card__image-wrap lrv-u-flex-shrink-0 u-width-191 u-width-150@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image   lrv-u-margin-b-00@mobile-max u-width-130px@mobile-max lrv-u-margin-b-00@mobile-max\">\n<div class=\"a-crop-6x4 a-crop-3x2@mobile-max\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2171401187-e1792074049728.jpg?w=237&amp;h=147&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"ELMONT, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Summer Walker attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Mike Coppola\/Getty Images for MTV)\" height width><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"o-card__content  lrv-u-padding-l-150@desktop lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column lrv-u-justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"c_title \">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  c-title a-font-basic u-font-size-22@desktop u-font-size-16@mobile-max u-line-height-26px u-line-height-22px@mobile-max u-margin-b-0.625@mobile-max a-truncate-ellipsis-3line@desktop a-truncate-ellipsis-4line@mobile-max lrv-u-color-grey-dark lrv-u-color-grey-dark:hover\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tSummer Walker Can Break Her Record Deal. But There\u2019s a $50 Million\u00a0Catch.\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"o-article-byline \/\/ lrv-a-unstyle-list a-font-accent-m lrv-u-color-grey lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-word-spacing-n3px u-padding-t-0.875@desktop u-padding-t-00@mobile-max\">\n<li class=\"lrv-u-flex a-byline-color\">\n<div class=\"c-tagline  u-word-spacing-n3px a-children-link-color-black:hover a-truncate-ellipsis-2line\"><span>Bill Donahue<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cMMMG has held up its end of the bargain, including by investing enormous amounts of time, money and other resources in Cordae\u2019s career,\u201d reads the legal complaint, obtained by <em>Billboard<\/em>. \u201cRather than live up to his commitments, Cordae prefers to put his head in the sand and pretend that the agreement does not even exist. This lawsuit is the direct result of Cordae\u2019s mistreatment of MMMG.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAccording to the lawsuit, MMMG signed Cordae to an exclusive record deal back in 2018 and released his first two albums, with distribution from Atlantic Records. The label claims it has 100% ownership of Cordae\u2019s recorded copyrights and sole rights to his merch, touring and endorsements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tMMMG claims Cordae has already violated their record deal for years by selling merch on his own and not sharing profits with the label. Now, he\u2019s allegedly \u201cmade matters far worse\u201d by planning a new album release without MMMG\u2019s permission or participation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe label says it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cordae and his new label\/distribution partners as soon as <em>Heavy is the Crown <\/em>was announced in August, but that Cordae \u201crebuffed\u201d them and refused to halt the album. He and .Paak released the lead single \u201cA Good Day\u201d in September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAccording to MMMG, Cordae\u2019s lawyers have claimed their contract is no longer valid because the label switched distributors from Atlantic to Stem in 2025. Cordae\u2019s team says Stem does not meet the distribution requirements under the record deal, though MMMG disputes this and says the argument is \u201cutterly lacking in merit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNow, MMMG is suing Cordae for breach of contract and copyright infringement. The lawsuit, seeking total damages of $25 million, also levels copyright and tortious interference claims against APESHIT, Mass Appeal and EMPIRE.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cBefore filing this lawsuit, MMMG gave Defendants ample time to correct their behavior and fully compensate MMMG for the harm that they caused,\u201d reads the complaint. \u201cThey failed to do so. MMMG will now vindicate its rights, and recover its damages, in court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tReps for Cordae, APESHIT, Mass Appeal and EMPIRE did not immediately return requests for comment on Friday (Oct. 16). .Paak is not personally named in the lawsuit or accused of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/cordae-25-million-lawsuit-anderson-paak-collab-album\/&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1179274049-e1792175494672.jpg?w=1024&#8243;] Trending on Billboard A new lawsuit alleges rapper Cordae is violating his exclusive record deal by teaming up with Anderson .Paak for their upcoming collaborative album Heavy is the Crown. Cordae was sued Thursday (Oct. 15) by MMMG Inc., a Florida-based label that claims to have sole rights to the rapper\u2019s recordings. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2202630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2202630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2202630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2202630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2202630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}