Nelly accused of ‘taking writer credit on songs NOT written by him’ on hit Country Grammar album in $10 million lawsuit
RAPPER Nelly was accused of taking writer credit on song he didn’t write on his hit albums Country Grammar and Nellyville in a massive $10 million lawsuit.
The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal that the Hot In Herre artist was sued in federal court in May after a lawsuit was initially lobbed at him in a local Missouri court in 2024.
Production company D2 filed an amended complaint against Nelly, 50, in August.
The suit read “D2 is a production company started in a local community skating rink by twin brothers Darren Stith and David Stith.
“D2 was known for developing producers and talents and giving them an opportunity to further their art and careers.”
The brothers claimed: “They were directly responsible for finding, nurturing, and bringing to the public the music of Nelly and the group known as the ‘St. Lunatics.’”
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St. Lunatics was made up of Nelly, Ali Jones, Torri Harper, Robert Kyjuan Cleveland and Lavell Webb, aka City Spud.
In the suit, D2 alleged that they had a contract with both Nelly and the St. Lunatics, separately, but that they released the Ride Wit Me rapper from his contract with them in June of 2000, with a $75,000 payment.
D2 claimed that Nelly, in a secret agreement, claimed a writer credit on songs that weren’t written by him, and were actually written with the St. Lunatics, which made it so the artists were able to avoid paying D2 royalties on those songs.
“The Songs, which were included on the Country Grammar and Nellyville albums, sold over twenty million copies.
“D2 was never paid its portion of the revenues that were legally due to D2 under Lunatic Agreements with Harper, Cleveland, and Jones (and then the Publishing Agreement), but went to Nelly instead under the Secret Arrangement,” the suit went on to allege.
Nelly and the St. Lunatics are being sued by D2 for more than $10,000,000 for breach of contract, fraud, conspiracy and breach of good faith and fair dealing.
D2 is also suing Nelly specifically for tortious interference, which essentially means the rapper putrposely interfered with D2’s business.
The suit said the Air Force One’s rapper “intentionally induced, and caused an interruption of D2’s contractual relationship with, and its business expectancy with, Harper, Cleveland, and Jones, by proposing, negotiating, entering into, and implementing the Secret Arrangement.
“Nelly knew or should have known that his actions would interfere with the Lunatic Agreements and cause D2 to lose revenue it was entitled to receive from the Songs pursuant to the Lunatic Agreements, and later, through the Publishing Agreement,” the suit claimed.
In September, Nelly, along with Cleveland and Harper, attempted to get the suit dismissed.
The case is ongoing.
Earlier this week, Nelly’s wife, Ashanti, was seen sporting a bathing suit on a trip to Barbados just after her 45th birthday on October 13.
Nelly was not seen during the outing, though their child, Kareem Kenkaide ‘KK’ Haynes, was with her for the trip.
She and Nelly welcomed their son in July of last year.
ON SCREEN
Recently, Nelly and Ashanti landed their own reality series after splitting up and later reuniting.
The pair dated on and off for 10 years after first getting together in 2003, but thought their 2013 breakup was final.
However, they surprised fans by getting back together a decade later.
Wasting no time, Nelly and Ashanti tied the knot just three months after making their reunion public.
The trailer for Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together was released ahead of the show’s premiere in June.
Fans quickly took to the comments on the first-look, with one saying, “This is the show I never knew I needed.”
Another wrote: “We’re all rooting for you, Nelly and Ashanti!”
A third added: “So here for these two being happy and in love.”
The show’s debut came just hours after The Sun exclusively revealed the truth behind rumors that Nelly had cheated on Ashanti.