Akon’s former business partner, Devyne Stephens, claims that the R&B singer, Akon, still owes him close to $4 million from a previous settlement agreement, according to court documents.
Devyne Stephens, a Music Executive, who has worked with musicians including Jay-Z, Destiny’s Child, Usher, Pink, and TLC, claims Akon owes $750,000 and at least $3 million in royalties, according to an amended complaint filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Under a 2018 agreement, the ‘Smack That’ singer agreed to pay Stephens $3.25 million over the course of four years. However, Akon still hasn’t paid the last installment of $750,000, the suit claims.
It is worth noting that this is the third time that Stephens has had to drag the Senegalese songwriter, whose career he helped launch, to court following their business breakup.
Stephens alleged that the singer sabotaged his relationship with ‘Atlantic Records’ to get out of a clause of their settlement that states he would pay Stephens’ royalties for four future albums while under a “major” label, according to the court document.
Stephens accused Akon of deliberately breaching his record contract so he wouldn’t have to pay him royalties. Stephens also alleged in the court papers that now, Akon claims he should be “let off the hook for his 20 percent cut of royalties” since he’s now under ‘BMG Records’.
However, Stephens argues that Akon can’t get out of those royalty payments since he allegedly “intentionally breached” his contract with ‘Atlantic Records’.
“Akon has spent the better part of a decade frustrating Stephens’ attempts to obtain what rightfully belongs to him”.
Court document
Meanwhile, Akon nor his lawyer, is yet to comment on the issue.
Akon To Sell his Album in NFTs
Despite the lawsuit Akon is facing, he has a very successful music career and is developing his own cryptocurrency-based city. Now, he will be combining his two interests as he plans on releasing his next album as an NFT (non-fungible token).
In a recent interview, the ‘Locked Up’ singer discussed the importance of the crypto world and how NFTs will tremendously help artists in their careers now. He explained that when artists own their art digitally, in the form of an NFT, it will go a long way to ensure that the creator of the art will benefit more financially from that creation.
Akon also explained why he intends to release his next album and all future music via the NFT route.
“My next album is going to be an NFT album. With that, I’ll be able to monetize it from the day it drops on every platform that exists. What that means is that it opens the door to full transparency where your music is being played, who’s playing it, where they’re playing, and how many times it is played. Financially, you get the royalty every time someone shares it, so it makes sense to me, and that’s the route I want to go for all my future music releases”.
Akon
Per reports, Akon may be one of the first artists to have had an interest in the cryptocurrency world. Nearly four years ago, he revealed the details of ‘Akon Crypto City’ while speaking on a panel at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Read also: COVID-19: Every Pregnant Woman Should Get Vaccinated- Dr Bediako
