U-God Sues RZA & Wu-Tang Clan For $2.5M
U-God, one of the longest standing members of the Wu-Tang Clan, is suing the legendary hip-hop collective for unpaid royalties. U, legal name Lamont Jody Hawkins, claims that he worked on about 170 tracks since the group formed in 1993, but has not seen royalties from 12 Wu-Tang albums for the last six years according to NYC court documents pulled by TMZ. One of the albums he hasn’t received royalties from is Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, which Pharma villain Martin Shkreli purchased for approximately $2 million. Hawkins also says his contract states that he should receive two annual payments for his portion of the merch profit, but he hasn’t been getting money from that either. He reserves specific comments for RZA and his brother, Mitchell Diggs, claiming that they have been abusing their authority as Wu-Tang founders. Hawkins is requesting a comprehensive accounting of Wu-Tang’s revenue streams, and alleges he’s owed $2.5 million at minimum.
Excuse me while I knock on wood in hopes that this wack-ass year we call 2016 doesn’t also include a Wu-Tang beef and formal dissolution.