Sick Of It All Sue Mobb Deep Over Supreme Collab
New York hardcore band Sick Of It All formed in 1986 and their most recent album was 2018’s Wake The Sleeping Dragon. Now they’ve released a lawsuit against Mobb Deep and Supreme for infringing on their trademarked logo, the “Alleyway Crew dragon.”
The suit was filed on Oct. 11 against Mobb Deep’s Havoc (Kejuan Muchita), the estate of the late rapper Prodigy (Albert Johnson), and Supreme’s owner Chapter 4 Corp. Documents say the “cases arises out of Defendants’ improper and illegal use of a nearly identical logo mark to Plaintiff’s inherently distinctive, incontestable and famous logo.” Sick Of It All have used the dragon emblem on recordings, merchandise, and advertisements since 1987, and have taken action against Mobb Deep for copying it in the past. In a 1997 internet chat with MTV viewers Sick Of It All wrote, “It was just a misunderstanding. They stopped using it. But they all have the tattoos.” SOIA also issued a cease-and-desist when Mobb Deep used the logo in packaging for their Free Agents: The Murda Mixtape.
Prodigy once explained that he originally got the tattoo because he saw it on the wall of the tattoo studio. “We wanted to turn it into the logo for Mobb Deep” he said, “but then we got a cease and desist letter in the mail.”
Streetwear brand Supreme, which featured Prodigy on t-shirts in 2011 and 2018, released a collab with Mobb Deep featuring the dragon logo on shirts, hats, and other apparel this past summer, which is the basis for the latest lawsuit. “Immediately prior to the institution of this lawsuit, plaintiff demanded that defendants cease use of their infringing logo and provide an accounting to plaintiff of sales of the infringing goods,” it reads. “Defendants refused to comply with those demands.”
Back in 2000, the two groups collaborated on a remix of Mobb Deep’s “Survival Of The Fittest.”