Megan Thee Stallion’s label 1501 Certified Entertainment—which she sued last month, for the second time—has filed a countersuit in Harris County District Court, claiming the Houston rapper is in breach of contract, and that her latest release Something for Thee Hotties “does not meet the requirements of an “album” under the three contracts that she has signed with 1501.” According to documents viewed by Pitchfork, the label seeks a declaration from the court that the record is not an album, monetary damages based on the contract breaches, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
“This is yet another absurd attempt by 1501 to disregard Megan’s album and squeeze more money and more free work out of her for as long as possible,” Megan Thee Stallion’s attorney Brad Hancock says. “We will ask the court to protect Megan from this type of abuse.” Megan filed her second suit against 1501 in Harris County last month, alleging the label refused to allow her to fulfill the terms of her contract by denying that her LP Something for Thee Hotties did not meet the legal definition of an “album.”
The countersuit also reveals new details about the recording contracts that Megan found onerous enough to warrant filing her original lawsuit. The label alleges that the terms of multiple contracts Megan has signed with the label—including a distribution deal with Houston rap luminary J. Prince and Lyor Cohen’s 300 Entertainment—requires a release to contain “at least 12 new master recordings of her studio performances of previously-unreleased musical compositions” and approval from the label prior to release. Of the 21 tracks on Something for Thee Hotties, 12 are indeed original compositions that had not previously received an official release.
In her original suit, Megan claimed the only contractually obligated parameter defining a release as an album was a 45-minute runtime, which she exceeded by two seconds. In its countersuit, 1501 argues that because the record’s track list contains several interludes, YouTube freestyles, and “archival material,” the total runtime of new recordings is only 29 minutes long.
In a letter sent last month to 1501’s attorneys and viewed by Pitchfork, Hancock states:
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