T.I. has taken legal action against Cinq Music, alleging that the company is failing to uphold a contractual agreement enabling him to repurchase his music catalog at a reduced price.
The rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, is accusing Cinq Music, an independent record label and publisher, of obstructing a provision in their 2017 contract. According to T.I., this clause grants him the right to reclaim the master recordings from his music catalog.
These include notable works from his Atlantic Records era, such as his critically and commercially acclaimed albums “King”, “T.I. vs. TIP”, and “Paper Trail”.
In the complaint, T.I. claimed that Cinq had initially offered him the opportunity to repurchase the albums later under “highly favorable” terms. However, he now accuses the label of “artificially inflating” the price to prevent the transaction from going through.
The seasoned rapper stated that the initial agreement for the buyback price was approximately $3 million. However, Cinq is reportedly now asking for $52 million.
“Cinq regretted that it had agreed to the [terms], and, therefore […] did everything it could to frustrate [Harris’] efforts to complete the purchase,” the rapper’ attorney, Robert Jacobs, reportedly wrote in the suit.
“Because it was common knowledge when the parties entered into the Cinq agreement in 2017 that audio streaming and video streaming via the DSPs had become the main driver of music industry growth and revenues, Cinq had ample reason to know then that the [streaming] exclusion would have a significant impact on the [price],” Jacobs added.
T.I. accused Cinq of manipulating the royalty deductions to “artificially raise” the buyback price. According to the rapper’s legal team, the label deliberately breached the contract terms in an attempt to pressure a negotiation for a significantly larger payout.
In response to the lawsuit, a representative from Cinq Music provided a statement.
“Cinq Music believes in integrity and fairness. We work across the board to foster creativity and ensure our artists are compensated equitably. At the same time, we disagree with the points made by the opposing party as stated in the article. In our opinion, the other side is making a push for Cinq to accept a valuation which is clearly off-base. We will respond through the appropriate legal channels, and continue to seek an agreement fair to all parties.”
