T-Pain Sues Akon’s Record Label Over ₦647m Unpaid Royalties

American singer T-Pain has sued Konvict Entertainment, the record label co-founded by Akon, over alleged unpaid royalties of $489,047, approximately ₦647 million.

The lawsuit was filed on September 4 at the Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It is the second time T-Pain has taken the label to court over royalty payments.

T-Pain, whose real name is Faheem Rashad Najm, claims Konvict Entertainment breached the recording agreement he signed with the label in 2005, as well as a settlement reached between both parties in 2025. 

The latest dispute involves $1.304 million in royalties that Konvict allegedly received from a distributor in late March 2026 for sales of T-Pain’s music generated during the second half of 2025.

According to the lawsuit, T-Pain is entitled to 75 per cent of the net royalties Konvict receives from distributors for his record sales.

The singer claims Konvict paid him $489,047 in June but withheld another $489,047 that he believes he is entitled to receive.

T-Pain alleges that part of the royalty payment had been transferred to BuVision, an affiliate of Konvict Entertainment. He said his representatives were directed to contact BuVision to recover the outstanding money, but their efforts were unsuccessful. BuVision is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The latest case comes after a lengthy legal dispute between T-Pain and Konvict Entertainment.

In 2018, the singer sued the label over payments connected to his fifth studio album, Oblivion. He sought at least $400,000 in an unpaid advance, as well as an accounting of royalties owed to him.

The dispute continued for several years before the parties reached a settlement in 2025. Under the agreement, Konvict agreed to pay T-Pain $114,000, while the settlement covered royalties collected through the end of 2024.

T-Pain now argues that the latest royalties relate to music sales from the second half of 2025 and are therefore outside the period covered by the previous settlement.

He also told the court that he received separate royalty payments directly from the distributor for Freaknik: The Musical.

Konvict Entertainment is the only defendant named in the new lawsuit. Neither the label nor T-Pain’s lawyers had responded to requests for comment at the time of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s report.