Offset is taking his ex-Label Quality Control to court after the Atlanta-based label tried to claim a share of the earnings from his first solo song, “54321,” released last Friday.
Offset, whose real name is Kiari Cephus, does have a deal with Quality Control (QC), but that is only as an artist as part of the rap group Migos with cousins Quavo and Takeoff. There have been recent rumors that the group might have fallen apart as Quavo and Takeoff have now formed their two-person group under the title Unc & Phew, and they have also released new music minus Offset.
In recent days, Offset has teased that his debut solo album is coming and has already released one track and will release another this week. However, the rapper claims that QC improperly tried to claim a share of earnings from his solo career despite not having a deal with them. He reportedly has a deal for his solo career with another label.
According to Radar Online, Offset filed the lawsuit this week against Quality Control Music, where he distinguished himself as a hip hop and rap artist who has “achieved worldwide commercial and critical success” both as a member of Migos and as a solo artist.
The rapper says that he had been under management with QCM, which he refers to as his “former label,” for over a decade and where “Quality Control also collected a sizable proportion of all the money that Offset made through his ingenuity and hard work.”
The lawsuit details Offset’s deal with QC in 2012, which gave the label control over his career and 50% of his profits. It added that the Migos deal is still in place but Offset has been working separately on his solo career since.
“When he came to understand the full ramification of the deal that he entered into, Offset set out to regain control of his solo career (notwithstanding Quality Control’s overreaching deal with Migos as a group, which remains in place.”
The rapper claims that he came to an agreement with QCM in January 2021, where the parties struck a deal for him to own the rights to his solo recording and songwriting. The rapper also said he paid millions to QCM to cut the deal.
However, QCM seems to have reneged on the deal as they tried to claim earnings from his latest solo track, “54321,” produced by Baby Keem.
The Atlanta label has not only claimed ownership of the masters in the song, but they also want ownership of all of his future solo recordings, the lawsuit says. The rapper claims that QCM this week demanded that Motown Records declare that QCM had an ownership interest in the new song. He now pretty much wants his fans to know he owns his music and not the label.
QCM is owned by Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “Pee” Thomas. On Wednesday, Thomas responded to the lawsuit in a tweet.
“The last lawsuit was filed publicly and dismissed quietly. Let’s see how this one go. Been to real for all this lame sh*t. Everyone know the real problem,” Thomas wrote on Twitter.
Offset also responded to Thomas with a direct response to the tweet as he claimed that Thomas allegedly blackballed him despite him paying millions to get his solo rights back.
“Ni**as act like im the problem I paid millions to get my rights back Ni**a you black balled me I ain’t said Sh*t one time homie I ain’t spoke to you in 2 years now I drop and you want ya name on my credit?” the rapper wrote in a tweet.
Meanwhile, Offset is getting ready to drop his upcoming track, “Code,” featuring Moneybagg Yo, this Friday, also with Motown Records, with whom he has his solo deal.
Offset had dropped another tweet earlier as he spoke about his solo career. “This new chapter for me is personal,” he tweeted.
