By Ismael AbduSalaam
So So Def mogul Jermaine Dupri is facing a defamation lawsuit over a private phone call included on Daz Dillinger’s 2006 album So So Gangsta.
The lawsuit, filed by a woman named Aika Kendrick, alleges that Daz and Dupri recorded a personal phone conversation which they then used as a backdrop for the song “The One,” which features Jagged Edge and details the difficulty of leaving an emotionally abusive relationship.
The initially civil June 2006 conversation culminates with Daz launching into a tirade of insults and obscenities at Kendrick before terminating the call.
Once made aware the call was recorded, Kendrick claims to have sent a cease-and-desist order to Dupri’s So So Def label which was subsequently ignored.
According to Kendrick, the call’s release to the public has made her “the subject of embarrassment, humiliation, and degradation.”
Due to this, Aika Kendrick is seeking $250,000 in damages on the grounds of negligence, copyright infringement, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Also named in the suit are Daz Dillinger, real name Delmar Arnaud, and Virgin Records.
So So Gangsta was Daz’s eighth solo and only So So Def album.
To date, it has sold over 150,000 copies.
At press time, Jermaine Dupri and Daz could not be reached for comment.