Jermaine Dupri, one of the most influential producers of hip hop and R&B music, filed an $18 million lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment (SME).
Dupri’s 13-page federal legal filing alleged that SME knowingly underpaid and concealed royalties tied to his work with major artists including Mariah Carey, Usher, Kris Kross, Bow Wow, Xscape, and Da Brat, according to Rolling Stone. The Grammy-winning producer claimed SME “knew that it was violating” contracts with his highly influential labels, So So Def Recordings and So So Def Productions, but “never attempted to disclose its contemptuous accounting practices.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 30: Jermaine Dupri (C) performs onstage during 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Mariah Carey on January 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
The lawsuit states that “it is likely that SME did not report producer royalties to plaintiffs for producer services rendered in connection with other artists associated with the So-So Def/SME deals,” and “Additional royalties due to plaintiffs have yet to be determined,” according to Rolling Stone.
Dupri claimed that SME concealed royalties owed to Kriss Kross for more than two decades by burying the funds in “a separate royalty accounting system unknown to plaintiffs.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 17: Jermaine Dupri visits SiriusXM Studios on July 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Olivia Wong/Getty Images)
His lawyer, Chris Brown, identified at least seven contracts between Dupri and SME that were in question, spanning more than 25 years, and claimed that an accounting audit conducted in 2025 uncovered millions of dollars they believe are owed.
They alleged that SME knowingly hid additional money owed from Jagged Edge’s 1997 album “The Jagged Era” and accused the music giant of altering royalty statements for several years, according to Rolling Stone.
Dupri’s legal filing accused SME of a “systemic pattern of underreporting royalties, failure of reporting royalites, and altering and/or updating statements to report previously earned royalties,” and claimed they “engaged in willful deceitful actions designed to harm plaintiffs in their business.”
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – MAY 30: Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri perform during Roots Picnic 2026 on May 30, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Live Nation Urban)
Dupri produced and co-wrote “We Belong Together” with Mariah Carey and Johntá Austin; the track won Best R&B Song at the 2006 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
He produced some of Usher’s biggest hits, including “U Got It Bad,” “Burn,” and “My Boo” with Alicia Keys, and was the mastermind behind Kriss Kross’s biggest hit single, “Jump.” (RELATED: Garth Brooks Announces Arena Tour With Every Ticket Priced The Same)
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 14: Usher, Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri attend as Jermaine Dupri celebrates So So Def 25 and Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction at GoldBar Toasted by Moet & Chandon on June 14, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for So So Def)
Dupri produced and was featured on the Jay-Z hit “Money Ain’t a Thang” and produced singles for Janet Jackson.
Daily Caller has reached out to Dupri directly for comment.