Earlier this week, we reported that Megan Thee Stallion had accused her label, 1501 Entertainment, of preventing her from releasing any new music. Apparently, it all started when she tried to renegotiate her contract, which she said that she signed before she knew what everything in it meant (she was only 20 at the time), and now that she had a little more experience in the music industry—a.k.a. now that she’s become only the seventh female rapper to ever hit Billboard’s top 10—she wanted to take another look at it. She says it all “went bad” when she brought up her contract, accusing 1501 CEO Carl Crawford of actively blocking her from releasing her new album, Suga.
After some legal back-and-forth, with Megan trying to force the label to let her release it and the label trying to convince a judge to not let her release it, Complex is now reporting that the judge has denied Crawford’s move and granted Megan approval to do whatever she wants with the album—which, it turns out, is to immediately release it. Suga will now be available on Friday, and the judge has barred anyone involved from “communicating with the media concerning the underlying issues in this case without court approval.”
Rolling Stone has an in-depth account of what happened here, taking a look at exactly what Megan objected to in her contract. It includes 1501 getting “30 percent of almost all of Megan’s sources of income,” exclusive control of her name and likeness, and control over all “appearances and live performances” (including a provision about getting a say in who Megan tours with and how revenue is split with them). Megan’s lawyers also argue that 1501 is “essentially a middleman,” since it doesn’t actually take care of “publishing/administration, touring, merchandising, sponsorships, or endorsements.”