Kanye West Sues Roc-a-Fella Records and Def Jam, Claims He Helped 'Revitalize' Jay-Z's Career
By TheBlast Staff on January 25, 2019 at 9:33 AM EST
UPDATE
8:15 PM PT: — A rep for Kanye tells The Blast the beef is not with Jay-Z, because he sold his shares of Roc-A-Fella years ago. We're told there is "no fight" between Kanye West and Jay-Z.
Kanye West is suing his good friend (ex good friend?) Jay-Z's record label, among others, claiming he's owed money — but he's playing his cards very close to the vest.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, West is going after Roc-A-Fella Records and Island Def Jam over "the parties' rights and obligations to one another under the Recording Agreement and Extensions."
Honestly, we can't say much more than that because the vast majority of the lawsuit is redacted.
The "nature of the dispute" is completely blacked out, as are most of the details for each of cause of action and the entire section where he states what he is seeking in damages.
There is one part of the lawsuit that is left visible. West recounts his career and rise to fame and describes producing and writing on Jay-Z's classic album, "The Blueprint," and gives himself credit for "helping revitalize Jay-Z's career."
West also filed a similar lawsuit against EMI, the song publisher that has handled his rights since 2003. That lawsuit is equally as mysterious and heavily redacted.
That lawsuit contains the nugget, "There now exists a dispute between Plaintiffs and Defendant EMI regarding the parties' rights and obligations to one another under the EMI Contract and Extensions."
In both suits, Kanye West makes no mention of how much money he's seeking. But given how successful he has been (just ask him) we can expect millions of dollars to be on the line.