Young Thug sold his catalog, pocketing a staggering $16 million, but now AEG wants its share.
What started as a potential partnership between an artist and a corporate giant has devolved into a tangled legal battle over millions in unpaid debts, contested copyrights, and a catalog that was sold without AEG’s consent.
The entertainment giant claims rapper Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams violated a previous agreement when he offloaded copyrights tied to over 400 compositions—assets AEG says were supposed to serve as collateral for an unpaid loan.
They’re calling the sale an unlawful diversion, and the fight for the funds has only escalated.
The roots of the conflict date back to 2017 when AEG loaned $5.25 million to Young Thug’s label, YSL, in exchange for exclusive global rights to promote his live shows.
In return, YSL and Thugger had to repay the borrowed sum, including interest, while also sharing revenue from concerts that featured third-party promoters.
However, by 2019, the situation had soured.
AEG alleges that Young Thug and YSL not only defaulted on the loan, leaving a hefty $5 million outstanding, but also misrepresented their financial capacity to fulfill the repayment promises in the first place.
The legal battle was put on hold in early 2022 when Williams was incarcerated on unrelated criminal charges in Georgia, but with his plea deal finalized in October 2024, allowing him to serve 15 years’ probation outside of prison, the legal posturing will now pick up speed.
The saga took another turn when, in 2021, despite AEG’s legal claims looming, Williams offloaded a massive portion of his catalog—a decision that likely blindsided AEG.
According to documents unearthed by AllHipHop, the rapper netted over $16 million from selling his stake in hundreds of his compositions.
That sale created new problems as ownership of the copyrights shifted hands, adding complexity to a financial dispute already thickened by the artist’s legal troubles.
AEG, left empty-handed, claims Young Thug breached their 2017 contract and even lied to the new buyer by reportedly stating the works were free of any legal entanglements.
AEG is eager to proceed, pushing for more documentation and potentially bringing new parties into the lawsuit.
Now, they are chasing not only the original loan balance but also any earnings attached to the transferred copyrights, which AEG hopes could help recoup what they’re owed.
Meanwhile, discovery efforts continue.
AEG has been pursuing entities involved in the sales of the music rights, serving subpoenas and combing through public records to identify who currently holds the copyrights and where the money from the sale ultimately landed.
The corporation intends to decide in the next six months whether to expand its legal claims against additional parties or to explore other means of recovering the collateral tied to Young Thug’s music catalog.
As of now, with the trial on Williams’ criminal charges concluded, both sides are working toward concluding discovery on the copyright dispute.
The upcoming months could once again place Young Thug at the center of another high-stakes drama, this time involving songs that made him a superstar.