 |
| Cover art for Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s 1992 single “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.).” C.L. Smooth, whose legal name is Corey Penn, alleges in a new federal lawsuit that about $132,000 in SoundExchange royalties was diverted without his knowledge. (Elektra Records/Handout) |
C.L. Smooth says he discovered this spring that someone else had been collecting digital royalties in his name for years.
Now the rapper is asking a federal court to make them give the money back.
Smooth, whose legal name is Corey Penn, filed a lawsuit Sept. 13 accusing a longtime associate, the associate’s wife and two companies of diverting approximately $132,000 in SoundExchange royalty payments that Penn says belonged to him.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains, names Nickolas Taylor, Nichelle Taylor, St. Nick Entertainment Inc. and Prosper Software Solutions Inc., doing business as Taylor Your Care.
Penn has demanded a jury trial.
The federal docket also shows that he filed copies of checks and a 1099 as an exhibit to the complaint.
According to Westfair Business Journal, which reviewed the complaint, Penn says his relationship with Nickolas Taylor stretches back to 1989, when the two were part of the same New York music and social circles.
Taylor began helping Penn book performances around 2001, according to the lawsuit.
There was no written management agreement.
Instead, Penn alleges, the arrangement operated on their longstanding personal relationship and trust. He says he provided Taylor with sensitive information, including passport details needed for international performances.
The relationship eventually deteriorated amid disputes over money and business matters involving St. Nick Entertainment and some of Penn’s independent music projects.
Penn says he stopped doing business with Taylor around 2007.
Around that period, according to the complaint, a SoundExchange account existed in Penn’s name while royalty payments belonging to him were being sent to addresses associated with the Taylors.
Penn says he did not learn that the account already existed until March, when he attempted to establish his own SoundExchange account.
According to the complaint, a subsequent SoundExchange investigation identified approximately $132,000 in royalty payments dating as far back as early 2006.
Penn alleges royalty checks and federal tax forms were sent to the Taylors’ home in Elmsford and other addresses associated with them in Pleasantville and Yonkers.
He further alleges that checks made payable to him were endorsed by Nichelle Taylor before being deposited by the Taylors.
Those allegations have not been proven in court.
SoundExchange occupies a specific part of the music royalty system.
It collects statutory digital performance royalties for sound recordings played through noninteractive services such as SiriusXM, Pandora and internet radio and distributes that money to featured artists and sound-recording rights owners.
Those are different from the songwriting and publishing royalties generated by the underlying composition.
Penn says he has since regained control of the SoundExchange account and received about $30,000 in accumulated royalties covering 2023 through 2026.
He accuses the defendants of fraud, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.
Penn is seeking the return of money he alleges was wrongfully obtained as well as unspecified punitive damages.
That does not mean he is simply “suing for $132,000.”
In fact, the federal docket contains an unusual correction that could otherwise create confusion about how much money is at stake.
When the case was opened, the court’s statistical information listed a $132 million demand. The clerk corrected that entry the following day, stating that the figure had been entered erroneously and changing the dollar demand to none.
The roughly $132,000 figure instead represents the amount Penn alleges SoundExchange identified as having been diverted.
No response from the defendants was available in the publicly accessible docket reviewed for this story. That docket was last retrieved Sept. 14 and notes that a more recent listing may be available through PACER.
Westfair reported that efforts to locate the Taylors for comment were unsuccessful.
The dispute reaches into a catalog that has been part of hip-hop for more than three decades.
Penn rose to prominence alongside producer Pete Rock as Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth. The duo released “All Souled Out” in 1991, followed by the albums “Mecca and the Soul Brother” in 1992 and “The Main Ingredient” in 1994.
“Mecca and the Soul Brother” included “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.),” the duo’s enduring tribute to Troy “Trouble T Roy” Dixon of Heavy D & The Boyz.
C.L. Smooth’s official biography still describes “T.R.O.Y.” as the record most closely associated with his career more than three decades later.
The music has kept playing.
Penn’s lawsuit now asks who was getting paid when it did.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains, names Nickolas Taylor, Nichelle Taylor, St. Nick Entertainment Inc. and Prosper Software Solutions Inc., doing business as Taylor Your Care.
Penn has demanded a jury trial.
The federal docket also shows that he filed copies of checks and a 1099 as an exhibit to the complaint.
According to Westfair Business Journal, which reviewed the complaint, Penn says his relationship with Nickolas Taylor stretches back to 1989, when the two were part of the same New York music and social circles.
Taylor began helping Penn book performances around 2001, according to the lawsuit.
There was no written management agreement.
Instead, Penn alleges, the arrangement operated on their longstanding personal relationship and trust. He says he provided Taylor with sensitive information, including passport details needed for international performances.
The relationship eventually deteriorated amid disputes over money and business matters involving St. Nick Entertainment and some of Penn’s independent music projects.
Penn says he stopped doing business with Taylor around 2007.
Around that period, according to the complaint, a SoundExchange account existed in Penn’s name while royalty payments belonging to him were being sent to addresses associated with the Taylors.
Penn says he did not learn that the account already existed until March, when he attempted to establish his own SoundExchange account.
According to the complaint, a subsequent SoundExchange investigation identified approximately $132,000 in royalty payments dating as far back as early 2006.
Penn alleges royalty checks and federal tax forms were sent to the Taylors’ home in Elmsford and other addresses associated with them in Pleasantville and Yonkers.
He further alleges that checks made payable to him were endorsed by Nichelle Taylor before being deposited by the Taylors.
Those allegations have not been proven in court.
SoundExchange occupies a specific part of the music royalty system.
It collects statutory digital performance royalties for sound recordings played through noninteractive services such as SiriusXM, Pandora and internet radio and distributes that money to featured artists and sound-recording rights owners.
Those are different from the songwriting and publishing royalties generated by the underlying composition.
Penn says he has since regained control of the SoundExchange account and received about $30,000 in accumulated royalties covering 2023 through 2026.
He accuses the defendants of fraud, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.
Penn is seeking the return of money he alleges was wrongfully obtained as well as unspecified punitive damages.
That does not mean he is simply “suing for $132,000.”
In fact, the federal docket contains an unusual correction that could otherwise create confusion about how much money is at stake.
When the case was opened, the court’s statistical information listed a $132 million demand. The clerk corrected that entry the following day, stating that the figure had been entered erroneously and changing the dollar demand to none.
The roughly $132,000 figure instead represents the amount Penn alleges SoundExchange identified as having been diverted.
No response from the defendants was available in the publicly accessible docket reviewed for this story. That docket was last retrieved Sept. 14 and notes that a more recent listing may be available through PACER.
Westfair reported that efforts to locate the Taylors for comment were unsuccessful.
The dispute reaches into a catalog that has been part of hip-hop for more than three decades.
Penn rose to prominence alongside producer Pete Rock as Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth. The duo released “All Souled Out” in 1991, followed by the albums “Mecca and the Soul Brother” in 1992 and “The Main Ingredient” in 1994.
“Mecca and the Soul Brother” included “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.),” the duo’s enduring tribute to Troy “Trouble T Roy” Dixon of Heavy D & The Boyz.
C.L. Smooth’s official biography still describes “T.R.O.Y.” as the record most closely associated with his career more than three decades later.
The music has kept playing.
Penn’s lawsuit now asks who was getting paid when it did.
No comments:
Post a Comment