(Photo Credit: Marv Watson)
The Wu-Tang Clan haven’t been having the best of times in the last couple of weeks. First, Donald Trump gets elected, prompting ex-pharmaceutical CEO and villain of the century Martin Shkreli to breach his contract with the Clan and post snippets of the album that he exclusively purchased for $2 million. Now, it seems like founding member U-God has filed a new royalties lawsuit against the legendary hip-hop collective.
According to TMZ, the dispute comes from the fact that the 46-year-old rapper is alleging that he hasn’t received any royalties for the past six years, despite having contributed to 170 tracks in the group’s catalog so far. U-God claims that the collective owes him at least $2.5 million “for numerous breaches of contract.”
The suit explains that U-God’s contract with Wu Tang requires two annual payments for his share in Wu Tang merchandising. TMZ reports that the legal documents suggest a particularly poignant anger towards the RZA and his brother Mitchell “Divine” Diggs, who have been “abusing their power as Wu founders.” This is not the RZA’s first time in the inter-member dispute ring. RZA’s clash with other founding member Raekwon is one of the reasons why Wu Tang Clan’s critically jeered 2014 album, A Better Tomorrow, was delayed for much longer than it should have.
U-God may have only contributed several bars here and there to the Clan’s classic debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), because of a jail sentence, but since then he’s evolved into a full member on the group’s subsequent projects.