Platinum-selling rapper Cam’ron has filed a new lawsuit alleging fellow hip-hop star J. Cole “refused to honor” an agreement they struck over their song “Ready ’24,” which appeared on Cole’s fourth mixtape Might Delete Later, released last year.
In his complaint, filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court and obtained by Rolling Stone, Cam’ron says he hasn’t received any financial compensation for his work on the collaboration and was only credited as the composition co-author, not as a performer, even though his vocals appear on the track. The musician, whose legal name is Cameron Giles, is asking a judge to issue a court order that declares him a co-author of the sound recording. He also wants an order directing Cole and Universal Music Group to audit the royalties received for “Ready ’24“ so he can be paid his “proportionate share of such monies,” the lawsuit states. (Reps for Cole and UMG did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.)
In the seven-page lawsuit, Giles also accuses Cole of reneging on other promises related to the collaboration. He claims his contributions to “Ready ‘24” came with “certain specified conditions,” including that he be granted “final approval” before the song’s release. He says Cole also agreed to collaborate with him on a future single.
Giles says he and Cole recorded “Ready ‘24” in June 2022 in New York City, and that he told Cole at the time that the song couldn’t be released until Cole performed on the future single with him. He claims Cole initially agreed but then pushed back when Giles asked him to perform on one of two songs that Giles had previously recorded. Cole allegedly told him he “preferred” to collaborate on a song they created together, the lawsuit alleges.
“The collaboration never materialized despite due request by plaintiff,” the lawsuit states. Giles claims that when he reached out to Cole again in July 2023, Cole told him that “instead of collaborating on a future song,” he wanted to appear on Giles’ podcast, It Is What It Is. Between July 2023 and April 2024, Giles and Cole continued to communicate, but Cole “repeatedly” said he was unavailable to appear on the podcast, the lawsuit claims.
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Cole subsequently released “Ready ’24” in April 2024, with Warner Chappell Music registering the composition but not the sound recording. Giles believes he’s owed at least $500,000 for his portion of the song’s royalties, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims Giles also deserves attorneys’ fees and any “further relief as the court deems equitable and proper.”
