• View Comments
• Share with Shortlink:

(AllHipHop News) T-Pain has been hit with a lawsuit by songwriter/former MTV reality star Sara Stokes, who claims the producer cheated her out of royalties for song they co-authored for R&B singer Jennifer Hudson. Stokes rose to fame after being featured on Making The Band 2 and as a member of Diddy’s group Da Band, which released one album, Too Hot For TV (2003). Saramony Entertainment filed the lawsuit on Friday (June 4th) in Missouri Eastern District Court, claiming she produced and co-wrote two songs with T-Pain, including Hudson’s tune “What’s Wrong (Go Away),” from the Grammy Award winning album Jennifer Hudson.  Stokes, claims that although Hudson’s album went Gold, she has received no producer, songwriter or performer credits for her role in created “What’s Wrong (Go Away).”“The exploitation of musicians is a story as old as the music and recording industry itself,” Stokes’ lawyer Eric F. Kayira said in the lawsuit. “The creative process in producing a duet is often times an effort borne equally from two artists/writers. Harmonically and interdependently, the energies of such artists form a single expression that neither can support by themselves. Unfortunately, too often in today’s popular music culture, the fame and notoriety of some performers may eclipse the considerable contributions and integrity of developing artists/writers, often at the expense of the legal and moral rights of lesser known co-authors.”Stokes claims that her label at the time, Quan Entertainment, entered into a deal with Nappy Boy Productions, with purpose of providing Stokes with two songs.The tracks were recorded at T-Pain’s studio, which according to the lawsuit, is in the basement of his sprawling house in Atlanta, Georgia, according to the lawsuit.Stokes claims that she originally co-authored and recorded the song with T-Pain and aired their version on WHHL 104.1 FM in Missouri. ‘‘Stokes claims she was shocked to hear that T-Pain, born Faheem Rasheed Najm, made deals with third parties to allow Hudson to re-record the song without her original vocals. “Only slight deviations in the lyrics exist between Stokes’ version and the released version, whereas the whole musical composition is the exact same on which Stokes collaborated with Najm,” according to Stokes lawyer. Stokes is seeking to be officially named as co-author of “What’s Wrong (Go Away), an accounting of all income derived from the sale of the song and attorney’s fees and costs. Also named in the legal filing is T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Publishing and Universal Music-Z Tunes.