Founded in 1985, A Tribe Called Quest is often referred to as pioneering the world of hip-hop. The band announced last year that a solo album of the late Phife Dawg is on the way. But while the world is still waiting for the album, the band recently took to Facebook to clear up that they weren’t involved in any royalties sale of their early albums. According to Stereogum, the band wasn’t aware that the website Royalty Exchange, a website for selling royalties, was selling 1.5% of the band’s first five albums.
The NFT later was sold for around $84,765, according to Pitchfork. But where did the 1.5% come from in the first place? Member of A Tribe Called Quest Ali Shaheed Muhammad explained that back when the band recorded their second studio album, their old record label Jive Records and their management group PPX Enterprises made a deal. Muhammad went on, “PPX aka Ed Chalpin added a clause to our agreement stating they get paid a percentage of our recording fund EVERY time we commenced to record a new album.” He continues, “We did not discover this hidden clause until we commenced to record The Low End Theory. We disputed this clause.”
After a short legal battle, the band agreed to record a sixth album with the label if they helped them get rid of the clause. Now the management group sold their share to someone who made a deal with Royalty Exchange. Muhammad later stated that if the band knew about the sale, they would have both the royalties themselves.
Further on, the band expressed their anger about music and hip-hop magazines reporting only half the story and creating click-bait headlines. They especially called out Billboard for an article that stated the band was involved in the NFT. The online music magazine since edited their article.
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