Megan Thee Stallion — Former 1501 Artists Say They’ve Shared Her Contract Woes: “It Was Like Signing With The Devil”
Megan Thee Stallion — Former 1501 Artists Say They’ve Shared Her Contract Woes: “It Was Like Signing With The Devil”
It seems as if rap starlet Megan Thee Stallion isn’t alone in her legal battle with her record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. Earlier this month, Megan Thee Stallion revealed that the label, ran by former professional baseball player Carl Crawford, had her tied into a binding contract which ultimately would prevent her from releasing new music. She says the battle ensued when she asked to simply renegotiate her contract:
“I didn’t really know what was in my contract. I was young, I think I was, like, twenty. I wasn’t upset because I was thinking, ‘everybody cool, we all family, it’s cool, it’s nice; let me just ask to renegotiate my contract’…As soon as I asked them to renegotiate my contract, everything went left. So now they telling a b*tch that she can’t drop no music.”
Megan Thee Stallion says that 1501 isn’t letting her drop new music due to her requesting to renegotiate her contract. pic.twitter.com/4Uz5vXwmD0
— Ronald Isley (@yoyotrav) March 1, 2020
This seems to be the exact case with fellow 1501 artists – from past to present, according to Complex. Houston rapper HardyBoy Pig, the label’s first artist, says that when he was arrested, the label not only provided little support, but refused to release his music:
“The same s*** Megan went through, I was going through,” he remembers. “[Carl Crawford] was really on some bully stuff. He didn’t give me nothing…they left me for dead the whole time I was in jail.”
Rapper Haroldlujah gave this shocking description of his time as a 1501 signee:
“[It] was like signing with the devil…You’re not expecting your CEO to get upset about a personal situation, and it affects the business. Based off that, he was not promoting me.”
He says that he’s, unfortunately, still tied into a binding contract with Carl and company:
“I’ve been hearing about a sit-down for three years. There’s never been a sit-down. My thing is, just give me my release papers and we can move on. I held up my end of the contract…I’d tell her listen, just push even harder. It’s a bitter game. You just got to keep your head up and continue to focus on the music. Your career has just taken all the way off. You can’t be down because of blocks in the road. You got bumps in the road. It’s just a bump. You go over that bump and you move on.”
However, there’s one 1501 affiliate that doesn’t agree with Megan Thee Stallion’s bitter feud: rapper D-Raww. He signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment in August of 2019:
“[Carl Crawford] is always around me…He’s a solid and genuine person.”
Megan Thee Stallion immediately lawyered up when she got wind of her contract, suing Carl and 1501 for nearly $1 million in damages. A Texas judge granted Megan a restraining order, and the ban on her new release was lifted – spawning in the release of her latest EP, “SUGA.”
The case is ongoing.
What do you think about the other artist’s claims? Tell us in the comments.
Written by Miata Shanay