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T-Pain has sued Konvict Entertainment, the record label co-founded by Akon, over an alleged $489,047 in unpaid royalties.
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The rapper claims the label breached both his 2005 recording agreement and a settlement reached in 2025 over an earlier royalty dispute.
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According to the lawsuit, Konvict Entertainment received more than $1.3 million in royalties from a distributor in March but did not pay T-Pain the full amount he says he was owed.
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The new case marks the second time T-Pain has taken the label to court, with the latest dispute involving royalties from music sales in the second half of 2025.
September 09, (THEWILL) — Atlanta artiste, T-Pain, has sued Konvict Entertainment, the record label co-founded by singer Akon, claiming the company owes him $489,047 in unpaid royalties.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday, September 4, in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia. It is the second time T-Pain, whose real name is Faheem Rashad Najm, has taken the label to court over royalty payments.
According to the complaint, Konvict Entertainment received $1,304,127 in royalties from a distributor in late March 2026 for music sales generated during the second half of 2025. T-Pain says his recording agreement entitles him to 75 percent of the net royalties received by the label.
T-Pain claims Konvict paid him $489,047 in June, leaving about half of his total share still unpaid. He alleges that the remaining amount was transferred to the label’s affiliate, BuVision.
According to the lawsuit, T-Pain’s representatives were directed to recover the outstanding money from BuVision, but their attempts were unsuccessful. BuVision is not named as a defendant in the case.
The rapper is accusing Konvict Entertainment of breaching both his original 2005 recording agreement and a settlement reached in 2025.
T-Pain’s earlier case was filed in 2018 over unpaid royalties. After years of mediation, the dispute was settled in 2025, with Konvict agreeing to pay T-Pain $114,000 while denying liability. The settlement covered royalties collected through the end of 2024.
The latest lawsuit concerns royalties from a later period and alleges that Konvict failed to meet its obligations under the 2025 settlement.
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The new legal dispute comes more than two decades after T-Pain signed with Akon’s Konvict Muzik in 2005. The partnership helped launch his career, with his debut album, “Rappa Ternt Sanga”, establishing him as one of the leading voices in mid-2000s hip-hop and R&B.
The latest case, however, centres on his contractual rights and royalty payments rather than their early partnership.
Konvict Entertainment is the only defendant named in the case. The label and T-Pain’s lawyers had not responded to inquiries about the lawsuit as of Monday, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
T-Pain is seeking the $489,047 he says remains unpaid under the agreements. The case is now before the Fulton County Superior Court.
Evi-Ben Ezaga is an entertainment and society writer with a passion for stories that explore culture, people, and the stories shaping society today.
