Atlanta music executive Jermaine Dupri and his So So Def companies are suing Sony Music Entertainment, accusing the record label of improperly handling royalty payments tied to a decades-long business relationship.

The lawsuit, filed July 6 and amended July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges Sony underpaid, failed to properly report and withheld millions of dollars in royalties connected to recordings by artists including Kris Kross, Xscape, Da Brat and Jagged Edge.

Dupri and So So Def are seeking at least $18 million in damages, along with interest and attorneys’ fees, according to the complaint.

So far, Sony Music Entertainment has not filed a response to the complaint. 

According to the lawsuit, Dupri and his companies discovered the alleged royalty issues after a 2025 audit conducted by accounting firm Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman.

According to the complaint, the parties entered a tolling agreement in November 2025 after So So Def raised concerns about approximately $18 million in allegedly unpaid royalties.

The complaint alleges Sony engaged in a pattern of financial reporting problems, including underreporting royalties, failing to report certain royalties, changing royalty statements years later, using incorrect royalty rates and improperly withholding payments.

The lawsuit also alleges Sony improperly used unrecouped balances, money a label claims is still owed from previous expenses, to offset royalty payments that should have been paid.

Kris Kross royalty dispute

One of the largest claims in the lawsuit involves Kris Kross, the Atlanta rap duo known for the 1992 hit “Jump.”

The complaint alleges Sony failed to properly report producer and override royalties from Kris Kross’ first two albums, Totally Krossed Out and Da Bomb.

According to the lawsuit, Sony did not provide royalty statements for those projects until 2023, and Dupri’s companies claim they are owed more than $2.2 million related to those recordings.

The complaint also alleges Sony later produced statements showing more than $33 million in foreign sales connected to Kris Kross royalty accounts and maintained those royalties in a separate accounting system that So So Def did not know existed.

Claims involving Xscape, Da Brat and Jagged Edge

The lawsuit also details royalty disputes involving several other artists connected to Dupri and So So Def. Dupri claims So So Def is owed more than $10 million in interest on unpaid royalties tied to Xscape, Kris Kross and Da Brat projects.

For Xscape, the complaint alleges Sony underreported producer royalties from the group’s 1993 album “Hummin’ Comin’ at ‘Cha” and owes more than $960,000 related to that project.

The lawsuit also alleges Sony underreported production-share royalties by more than $144,000 through incorrect calculations and underreported producer royalties from Xscape’s album “Off the Hook” by more than $22,000.

For Da Brat, the complaint alleges Sony underreported producer royalties from her 1994 album Funkdafied and owes more than $1 million related to that recording. The lawsuit also alleges additional royalties may be owed from her album “Anuthatantrum,” though damages have not been determined.

The lawsuit alleges Sony began reporting previously unreported royalties connected to Jagged Edge’s 1997 album “The Jagged Era” in statements issued in 2023. The complaint claims those statements only covered royalties dating back to 2007, leaving earlier royalties unaccounted for. 

Dispute over Sony’s royalty practices

The complaint challenges Sony’s handling of unrecouped balances.

The lawsuit cites an Xscape account that showed an unrecouped balance of about $1.53 million as of 2020. Dupri’s companies allege Sony withheld more than $1 million in royalties generated between 2020 and 2024 because of that balance.

The plaintiffs argue those balances should have been forgiven under Sony Music’s 2021 Artists Forward Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program.

The lawsuit alleges Sony’s failure to apply the program resulted in approximately $1 million in payments that were not made. The complaint also identifies potential royalty issues involving artists and projects connected to So So Def, including: Mariah Carey, Usher, Bow Wow, Bone Crusher, Anthony Hamilton and more. 

Dupri and his companies are seeking compensatory damages, interest, attorneys’ fees and a jury trial.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — After Atlanta hit 96 degrees with a heat index of 102 over the Fourth of July weekend, a City Council member is pushing legislation to formalize how the city responds when extreme heat threatens public health.

Atlanta typically opens cooling centers as temperatures climb, but Councilmember Kelsea Bond said the city lacks a consistent, codified process to ensure the same steps are taken each time extreme heat arrives.

“There’s not something that is cohesive in our code that says this is going to happen this way every single time,” said Michael Julian Bond, Post 1 at-large.

Bond’s proposed resolution would create a citywide heat safety plan. It calls for more cooling centers, expanded outreach to vulnerable residents and using a health-based measure such as HeatRisk to determine what resources are needed based on conditions.

“The many individuals that don’t have working A/C or don’t have adequate air conditioning — we want to make sure they are able to get relief,” Bond said.

Multiple council members have signed on in support, arguing the city needs to prepare for more frequent and intense heat as the climate warms.

“The weather’s not going to get any cooler with global warming, and so we want to be prepared,” Bond said.

HART COUNTY, Ga. – An Atlanta woman wanted for kidnapping in Maryland was arrested along Interstate 85 in northeast Georgia.

What we know:

Alicia Denise Brown, 37, of Atlanta, was taken into custody during a traffic stop. According to the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received an alert about the car traveling north on the interstate. Deputies pulled over the vehicle near Exit 177 along with Georgia State Patrol troopers.

A woman and two young children were taken into custody. No one was injured.

The backstory:

Brown is wanted on outstanding kidnapping-related warrants out of Maryland and by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office on felony charges of interference with child custody.

The Baltimore County Police Department wanted Brown on charges stemming from the disappearance of a 10-year-old child who was reported missing in 2019. Maryland officials say they would extradite her back to face charges.

What they’re saying:

“We are thankful for the quick response and teamwork of our deputies, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia State Patrol, and all assisting agencies. Their coordinated efforts resulted in the safe recovery of both children and the successful apprehension of the suspect,” Sheriff Chris Carroll said.

What we don’t know:

It is also unclear how the vehicle was initially spotted or what specific vehicle description triggered the law enforcement alert.

The full details of the charges were not immediately available.