Black Sheep Sues Universal Music Group For Unpaid Royalties
Black Sheep enjoyed a lot of success in the early ’90s, but now they’re claiming they have not been properly paid. The Queens, N.Y. duo is reportedly suing Universal Music Group to recover their dearth of compensation.
Black Sheep, made up of Andres “Dres” Vargas Titus and William “Mista Lawnge” McLean, reportedly filed a class action lawsuit against the major music corporation. The musicians claim UMG owes them nearly $750 million.
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The “The Choice Is Yours” artists are accusing Universal of breaching contracts through a “sweetheart” deal with Spotify, Yahoo Entertainment reports. They allege that UMG “knowingly negotiated lower royalty payments” to “obtain the stock and then retained the stock for its own benefit.”
“For approximately a decade, Universal omitted from the royalty statements Universal issued to plaintiffs that it had received Spotify stock in connection with the ‘use or exploitation’ of Black Sheep recordings,” they wrote in the legal filing. They continue with “As a result of its continuing contractual breaches, Universal has unlawfully retained approximately $750 million in royalties that should have been paid to plaintiffs and the class.”
Black Sheep reached massive heights as “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Choice” was part of their 1991 debut album A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing, which also included the singles “Flavor Of The Month” and “Strobelite Honey.” Wolf achieved RIAA Gold-certified status.
The duo parted ways after 1994’s Non-Fiction, but Dres has maintained the name for nearly 30 years. The last Black Sheep LP Tortured Soul came out in 2018 and featured Chi Ali, Sadat X, Jaleel Shaw, SahLence, and more.
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