A former member of 2 Live Crew has filed suit against rappers Ice-T and Jay-Z, claiming he is entitled to royalties for a song made famous by Jay-Z as part of his top-selling “The Black Album.”
In a filing Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Marquis Ross claims he wrote lyrics and a beat similar to those featured in the chorus of the song “99 Problems,” which eventually was copyrighted by Jay-Z.
Jay-Z’s 2003 and 2004 recordings are based on a song by the same name that was released a decade earlier on Ice-T’s “Home Invasion” album, Ross alleges. Ross was asked by Ice-T to appear on that track and had performed parts of it before their collaboration, his lawsuit says.
Ice-T put his own name on the copyright but didn’t include Ross and refused to pay royalties to the 2 Live Crew rapper until 2005, when he made a “partial payment” of $10,000, the suit claims. Ross is requesting back royalties and punitive damages.
Spokespeople for Jay-Z and Ice-T were unavailable for comment at deadline.
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