Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def sues Sony Music for $18m over alleged unpaid royalties on Kris Kross, Xscape, Mariah Carey and Usher records

Jermaine Dupri and his So So Def companies have sued Sony Music Entertainment (SME) for more than $18 million, alleging years of unpaid and underreported royalties.

The complaint, which you can read in full here, was filed on Monday (July 6) in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

It names So So Def Recordings, So So Def Productions and Jermaine Dupri Mauldin as plaintiffs, and spans recordings by Kris Kross, Xscape, Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Usher, Mariah Carey, Bow Wow, J-Kwon and Bone Crusher.

“So-So Def had a 32-year contractual and business relationship with SME,” Dupri‘s lawyers write in the complaint.

“As it turns out, many of SME’s dealings with So-So Def have not been lawful and have harmed So-So Def in its business.”

The relationship dates to a label agreement signed on May 4, 1992, according to the complaint, under which So So Def submitted artists including Xscape and Da Brat to the major.

The complaint alleges Sony never reported producer or override royalties on Kris Kross‘s first two albums, Totally Krossed Out (1992) and Da Bomb (1993), until 2023, and that more than $2.2 million remains owed on those records alone.

“As it turns out, many of SME’s dealings with So-So Def have not been lawful and have harmed So-So Def in its business.”

Jermaine Dupri and So So Def’s complaint

It says royalty statements produced in 2023 and 2024 showed foreign sales of more than $30 million for the Kris Kross account.

“SME attempted to conceal all Kris Kross royalties due Plaintiffs for over 20 years in a separate royalty accounting system unknown to Plaintiffs,” the filing states.

The suit alleges Sony underreported more than $960,000 in producer royalties on Xscape‘s 1993 debut Hummin’ Comin’ At ‘Cha, and withheld more than $1 million on Da Brat‘s 1994 album Funkdafied.

A separate claim centers on how Sony handled Xscape‘s recoupment account.

The complaint says a So So Def production account tied to the group’s first two albums still carried a negative balance of more than $1.5 million as of June 2020.

“It is unfathomable that Xscape‘s royalties were insufficient to recoup the entirety of Xscape’s advances on LP1 and LP2 – both albums were certified platinum by the RIAA – let alone to leave such a staggering unrecouped balance 25–30 years later,” the filing reads.

Dupri‘s lawyers say the same account generated more than $1 million between 2020 and 2024, but that So So Def received nothing because Sony continued applying the negative balance.

“This matter concerns a royalty accounting dispute the parties were actively engaged in attempting to resolve. We are disappointed that So-So Def elected to pursue litigation rather than continue that dialogue.”

Sony Music spokesperson 

That allegation runs into a policy Sony Music announced in June 2021.

Under its Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program, Sony said it would stop applying existing unrecouped balances to earnings for artists and “participants” who signed before 2000 and had not taken an advance since – a group MBW confirmed at the time included producers, joint-venture partners, and distributed labels.

The complaint argues Xscape‘s pre-2000 balances should have been nullified under that program, and that the account alone should have paid So So Def roughly $1 million.

The filing also accuses Sony of amending old royalty statements for Jagged Edge‘s 1997 album A Jagged Era, with the corrected figures reaching back only as far as 2007.

“SME knew that it was violating the contracts with the Plaintiffs and never attempted to disclose its contemptuous accounting practices to the Plaintiffs,” the complaint states.

Dupri‘s lawyers say the alleged discrepancies surfaced through a 2025 desk audit by accounting firm Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, and that the parties signed a tolling agreement in November 2025 before the suit was filed.

Dupri founded So So Def in 1993 as a joint venture with Sony and Columbia, and the label went on to release platinum records by Xscape, Da Brat and Jagged Edge.

A Grammy winner and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Dupri has since moved So So Def‘s business elsewhere, most recently striking a 2025 distribution deal with HYBE America, then led by Scooter Braun.

The plaintiffs are seeking no less than $18 million, along with more than $10 million in interest, attorneys’ fees and a jury trial.

In a statement provided to MBW, a Sony Music spokesperson said: “This matter concerns a royalty accounting dispute the parties were actively engaged in attempting to resolve.”

“We are disappointed that So-So Def elected to pursue litigation rather than continue that dialogue.”

Elsewhere, in March, the band Lit sued Sony in the same court, alleging it had been underpaid on streaming royalties under a 1998 contract with RCA.Music Business Worldwide