NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Rapper Lil Durk is being called on the carpet and sued for fraud for allegedly trying to sell the rights to the same song more than once.
New York-based Exceed Talent Capital (with the namesake business headquartered in Israel) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday (December 6). According to court documents obtained by Music Business Worldwide, the fintech startup claims that Lil Durk, legally known as Durk Derrick Banks, had agreed to sell the rights to his song “Bedtime” to them despite having another contract with Sony Music Entertainment’s Alamo Records. The suit names Durk, his manager Andrew “Dilla” Bonsu, Only The Family Entertainment, Inc., Only the Family (OTF) label and firm TTPMG.
Per the suit, Bonsu, who owns Only the Family, and TTPMG CEO Oretha Lee started negotiating in the summer of 2022 with Exceed on the transfer of an interest in “Bedtime,” having allegedly “assured Exceed that they possessed the power and lawful authority to” do so. Exceed says they acquired the rights for $600,000 only to find that Durk had “previously assigned the same rights to a third party.”
Exceed says it was notified in May by Alamo Records of Durk’s exclusive recording agreement and that neither they nor distributor Empire possessed the rights to assign any interest in any revenue streams generated by “Bedtime.” Exceed was then “forced” to return the funds invested by third parties, which allegedly damaged the startup’s reputation and relationships with partners and investors.
The company, which reportedly had paid $450,000 of the $600,000 owed, claims they wound up sustaining $12 million in damages over the failed deal.
