Suing the Label: The Sequel

2.22.22

Megan Thee Stallion

It is clear that Megan Thee Stallion is ready to free herself from her current label situation. Being the Houston Hottie she is, she signed with Carl Crawford at 1501 Certified Entertainment in 2018, and for the second time, is suing them in regards to her contract and how things are going.

In March of 2020, Megan Thee Stallion sued 1501 from allegedly blocking her from releasing her EP, Suga. Typically, artists do not win these fights due to their crazy contracts, but Megan was able to release her project not far after. Though, the project was bad and made me feel like there was a reason it was not being released.

Since then, Carl has brought new female talent to his roster, as the waters were clearly rough between him and his stallion. Megan inked a management deal with Roc Nation, who does seem like a better fit with the star power Megan currently has. However, there are always obligations the talent needs to complete prior to ditching their contract, completely.

For a second time, Megan Thee Stallion is suing 1501 Certified Entertainment. This time, due to the identification of an album. Typically, when an artist signs a contract, they are agreeing to releasing a specific number of albums and pieces of work under the label. Things get tricky, when you attempt to identify what is an album, versus an EP, versus an LP, or a mixtape, or a project, or in this case, a “compilation album.”

It is clear as day that Megan is ready to leave the label, and she is trying to fulfill her requirements of the contract in order to be free. However, things did not go her way when her label did not identify Something For The Hotties, as an album. I personally do not believe this was ever meant to be an album. The title is even suggestive it is just a quick piece of work meant to hold us over until the album comes. Well, it appears Megan got wind that she has some work to do on the album front, and is now taking the label to court yet again, to count this towards her contracted deliverables.

The project at hand, Something For The Hotties, is currently listed as a compilation album. This means that the project is a bunch of tracks from different periods of time mashed together. Though 21 tracks, this project consisted of five freestyles and four skits. Without these tracks, the project is around twenty-five minutes.

Length and timing here is important, as this is what Megan’s defense is using to suggest that Something For The Hotties should be considered an album. According to them, Megan’s contract only defines an “album” as a body of work that lasts of forty minutes.

An album can be identified by different artists and labels in different ways, but if all she has is the timing, she could win this battle, legal. However, it is clear that this was not one cohesive body of work, the real, full, net-new songs would not be able to stand alone as an album, but, a contract is a contract.

Carl Crawford does not seem to be too phased by this, as he shares a post about the last time that Megan sued him and his label. However, Megan seems to be getting a bit more emotional, posting about how she has never felt supported by her label.

Will Megan win another battle? Should Crawford just let her go at this point? Who should Meg sign to next?