Members of Nelly’s St. Lunatics crew are suing him for not getting the credit or money they say they deserve from his 2000 album, Country Grammar.
The group’s lawyers—representing Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, and City Spud—filed the lawsuit in Manhattan’s federal court, as reported by Billboard.
Although the St. Lunatics contributed to songs like “Batter Up” and “Ride Wit Me,” they claim their work wasn’t properly credited, which means they missed out on royalties.
For example, “Country Grammar (Hot Shit)” lists only Nelly and producer Jason Epperson, but the group says they helped write the lyrics. Nelly had allegedly promised them writing and publishing credits on several tracks but didn’t follow through.
“Every time plaintiffs confronted defendant Haynes [he] would assure them as ‘friends’ he would never prevent them from receiving the financial success they were entitled to,” the lawsuit states. “Unfortunately, plaintiffs, reasonably believing that their friend and former band member would never steal credit for writing the original compositions, did not initially pursue any legal remedies.”
The St. Lunatics formed in the early ’90s and were friends from St. Louis. They released “Gimme What U Got” in 1996. After Nelly got his record deal, they released Free City in 2001.
But despite Nelly’s promises, the St. Lunatics say he never gave them proper credit, which led to the lawsuit. “Despite repeatedly promising plaintiffs that they would receive full recognition and credit… it eventually became clear that defendant Haynes had no intention of providing the plaintiffs with any such credit or recognition,” the lawsuit states.
Billboard mentions the lawsuit focuses on copyright infringement because Country Grammar came out 24 years ago, and song ownership disputes are only protected for three years.
Nelly’s representative did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
