The lawsuit seeks tens of millions of dollars in a dispute over royalties from the group’s “Country Grammar” album and other tracks.D2 Productions, Inc. formally filed the lawsuit Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court, targeting Cornell Haynes Jr. (“Nelly”), Ali Jones (“Ali”), Torri Harper (“Murphy Lee”) and Robert Kyjuan Cleveland (“Kyjuan”).
According to the lawsuit, all four members used D2’s studios from 1997 to 2000 to record compositions that appeared on their “Country Grammar” and “Nellyville” albums. The lawsuit claims that the master recordings were created at D2’s studios with a contractual condition that they were “the sole property of D2” and would never be sold, transferred, or licensed to a third party.Skip to content
St. Lunatics members Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan and Lavell Webb are seeking at least $50 million
Rapper Nelly is being sued by four former bandmates who claim the Grammy-winning star failed to give them songwriting credits for a number of songs on his hit debut album Country Grammar.
St. Lunatics members Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan and Lavell Webb filed a copyright infringement complaint against Nelly, 49, in a New York court on Sept. 18, alleging the rapper manipulated them for years by falsely promising they’d receive credit, and therefore royalties, on eight of his songs.
“It eventually became clear that [Nelly] had no intention of providing the Plaintiffs with any such credit or recognition,” the complaint, which was obtained by PEOPLE, says. “Not only did [Nelly] fraudulently represent to others that he was a writer and/or creator of the [songs], he also… allowed other individuals within his circle to receive credit and publishing income for songs written by Plaintiffs.”
An attorney for Nelly did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
