2Pac's mother sues Death Row Records for $1 million

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Mother of late rap icon 2Pac, Afeni Shakur has launched a new lawsuit over her son’s back-catalogue, as well as the assets of former label Death Row Records.

Reportedly demanding $1.1 million in royalties from Entertainment One, who bought the label for an estimated $280 million earlier this year, Shakur filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday (26 September).

The independent has had a rocky legal history over the years, with founder Suge Knight filing for bankruptcy in 2006. Since then the label has changed hands several times: the company that bought it out of bankruptcy failed to come up with the money it promised, leading it to be taken over by New Solutions/WIDEawake Entertainment, who agreed a distribution partnership with E1 Entertainment, formally known as Koch Entertainment. Then New Solutions went under, and it’s since been fully taken over by E1.

The lawsuit in question seems to be a long time coming, covering a deal with Death Row and its then-distributor Interscope from 1996. It states that all agreed that the Shakur Estate would get ownership of any unreleased 2Pac material , that Death Row would be allowed to release just one album of said unreleased material, and that the estate would be paid royalties on any Tupac tracks distributed by the record company.

The firm is yet to comment. Meanwhile, a 2Pac biopic – on which Afeni Shakur has been named Executive Producer – is now set to start filming next year.

[via CMU]