Megan Thee Stallion earned her first No. 1 hit this week with “Savage,” and her label surprisingly couldn’t be happier. On Tuesday (May 26th), Billboard reported that Megan and Beyoncé’s remix of “Savage” had risen to the top of the Hot 100 chart, marking the former’s first ever No. 1 of her career. Megan was thrilled, of course, and Bey even sent her a bouquet of flowers to congratulate her on her incredible feat.

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Someone we may not have expected to join in on the celebratory festivities was Carl Crawford, the CEO of 1501 Certified Entertainment to which Megan is signed. However, on Tuesday, Carl took to the official 1501 Instagram page to relish in the joy of “Savage” going No. 1.

“#1! We did it for our city!” Carl wrote on a clip of one of Beyoncé’s verses on the remix. “Waking up to good news is a blessing man, and coming together for this collaboration was a no brainer. I’m so proud of everyone involved in making this project happen and the help that has been given to Bread of Life, Houston through its success. We’ve gotten to feed so many people in need because the fans showed up n showed out and streamed! We did this together! I’m just grateful.”

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Although the song was released 1501 on Megan’s EP Suga back in March, Carl fails to mention her at all in the post. If you recall, the two of them were embroiled in some legal drama prior to the release of Suga, after Megan exposed the label for preventing her from releasing new music due to the conditions of her contract. She was granted permission by the court to release the project against the label’s wishes after she sued them, so it’s interesting that Carl is celebrating the exciting feat at all.

Assuming you were on the internet yesterday, because where else would you be/what else would you be doing, you saw that Megan Thee Stallion re-invigorated both her fans and her haters with a massive "Savage" remix that featured rapping Beyonce. Rapping Beyonce is always exciting, and she came through once again with fire bars that are already circulating social media heavily and will be used as Instagram captions for months to come. Her nod to OnlyFans especially caught the attention of the general public, as well as the company.

Now some more information as to how this remix was pulled off is being revealed. Megan Thee Stallion has been embroiled in label issues, which could hypothetically cause an issue for any music she wants to release at the moment-- but she managed to get her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, on board with this remix. Part of the reason she's able to release music now is also the fact that she won a restraining order against the label.

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Recently, she made a small triumph in the legal battle with her label, as the judge affirmed that their issues would not be relegated to arbitration, meaning, outside of a courtroom, despite language in her contract with 1501 that would make it so. This means, she'll be heading to trial with the label.

Now, to get to the song at hand and J. Prince's role. J. Prince's name was among those in Megan's lawsuit, and the industry vet previously replied as to why that's the case, and explained that major labels (such as Roc Nation, as is the case in Megan's situation), often poach from independent labels like 1501. He was adamant that Megan signed a good contract with 1501.

J. Prince, who acts as a consultant for 1501, apparently was the one who had to sign off on the remix, because all the profits of the record are going to charity. Thus, the label had to forfeit their royalties and profits from the song. Sources at 1501 label say that the move was done "in unity" to support Houston during this time, but nonetheless, the lawsuit is still very much underway.

J. Prince, for his part, shared a positive message about the collab coming to fruition on his IG page, writing: 

Megan Thee Stallion continues to secure wins in her legal battle against her former label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. This time, the Hot Girl’s case against the label for fraud has been ruled to head to trial, after the judge denied 1501 CEO Carl Crawford’s request to settle the lawsuit in private arbitration. Crawford initially filed the motion arguing that Megan had forfeited her right to settle any legal dispute that may arise between herself and the label when she signed her record contract. However, Megan is arguing for the “unconscionable” nature of the contract in the first place, claiming that the language in the document is too vague to be enforced in any manner. The judge agreed and denied Crawford’s motion, as well as his separate motion to stay the case. Their legal battle will now be heading to pubic trial.

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Megan initially filed the lawsuit against 1501 for allegedly coercing her into signing the aforementioned contract, and subsequently threatening and harassing her after she signed a management deal with Roc Nation. She also accused them of intentionally preventing her from releasing new music and sabotaging her budding rap career. Megan was granted a temporary restraining order that was later extended, allowing her to release her most recent project, SUGA, in March. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments in this case.

Megan Thee Stallion‘s legal war with 1501 Entertainment won’t be dealt in arbitration as Carl Crawford had wanted. According to Billboard, a judge has denied Crawford’s motion to settle their legal dispute in arbitration. This is a pretty big win for Megan Thee Stallion since one of the roadblocks in her lawsuit was the contractual agreement that would force her to settle the case outside of the courtroom. The judge also denied Crawford’s motion to stay that case.

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“We are obviously very happy with the court’s decision and look forward to litigating this case,” Megan Thee Stallion’s attorney Richard Busch said about the ruling.

This marks the second small victory in Megan Thee Stallion’s legal war against Carl Crawford and 1501 Entertainment. After filing a lawsuit, she was successfully granted a temporary restraining order against the label which gave her the power to release new music. At the time the lawsuit was filed, she had alleged that they were preventing her from releasing new music. The judge later gave an extension on the restraining order to Megan.

Days after news emerged of Megan’s situation, she was able to release her latest project, SUGA due to the restraining order. A successful move, the album produced the singles “Savage” and “Captain Hook” which have both benefitted from TikTok dances propelling their popularity. 

We’ll keep you posted on any more updates surrounding the case.

Megan Thee Stallion is in the midst of a legal battle with her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment but she still managed to release her new project, SUGA last week, thanks to the judge who granted her a temporary restraining order against the label. Even though the project managed to find its way onto streaming services, Meg’s battle against 1501 Entertainment is far from over. 

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In new documents obtained by Bossip, a lawyer for the label has filed a motion arguing that Megan Thee Stallion has no right to take them to court. Although details of Megan having to go through arbitration with the label were previously revealed, a lawyer for 1501 has asked to have this case dealt with privately. Ultimately, this would mean that the results of the case would not be available to the public.

The agreement is apparently in the very contract that Megan Thee Stallion signed two years ago. The contract states that any disputes between them would be settled in a private matter. If Megan’s case proceeds as she plans, then she’d allegedly be violating their legal agreement. They’re not necessarily arguing aspects of this case but would rather have it dealt with behind closed doors. 

A judge has yet to file a ruling on the motion. We’ll keep you posted on any more updates. Read our review of SUGA here.

The 2019 breakout year of Megan Thee Stallion introduced hip-hop’s latest star with a promising career ahead of her. Without an actual debut album to her name, she set the industry ablaze with her bossed up promiscuous lyrics that celebrated sexual liberation and broke gender stereotypes. Everything about 2020 was set up to be her official year. With a debut album set to release, all signs pointed to the Hot Girl Summer extending into the new decade. Label issues, however, have prevented this from happening as imminently as many hoped for. Meg filed a lawsuit against her label last week after claiming they were holding her back from releasing new music. Even as contractual disputes persist, a judge granted Meg a TRO against her label to prevent them from stopping her from dropping new music. This resulted in the release of SUGA — Meg’s latest body of work which was rushed out onto streaming services while Carl Crawford attempted to go to grave lengths to stop this from happening. But in a year that was equally trying and triumphant, SUGA is an assertion of Meg’s boss status as a rapper and a cultural figure who continues to set herself apart from the pack of rappers, both male and female, that are emerging at a rapid pace.

Megan Thee Stallion, as an entertainer and personality, has continued to exude radiant charisma and confidence on her social media platforms, performances, and general appearances, even as she maintains a strong sense of humility. But SUGA is the introduction to a new personality — one that she’s described as a “sensitive gangsta” that highlights the imperfections of the everyday soul. “Social media got everybody striving for perfection and I’m not gon’ lie – I’m not perfect. I didn’t say I was,” she explained on Power 106 Los Angeles in late January. “I got a whole bunch of stuff going on every day. I’m going through it, but I’m getting through it. So, that’s where Suga is coming from.”

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“Ain’t Equal,” the first song on the project, is a declaration of her continuous reign, reflecting back on the losses of the past year and the moments of triumph she’s basked in. “Aye, I lost my mommy and my granny in the same month/ A bunch of bitches hatin’ ‘cause I’m comin’ up,” she viciously raps over Helluva’s icy production with a flow as sturdy as her knees. “Okay, let’s talk about it, no petty shit/ Let’s keep that shit a bill/ It’s a difference in the bitch who rap and the bitch who rap for real,” she continues as she applies pressure on the necks of doubters, naysayers, and imitators who’ve downplayed her success. But the pettiness of Instagram comments aside, there are still moments where she strikes back at the very label executive she’s in the midst of a legal battle against. “Bitch, I been poppin’, doin’ numbers, been lit/ And since the n***a think he made me, tell him do it again.”

The aggressiveness doesn’t necessarily carry on throughout the project at the same level of intensity. “Savage,” for instance, has Megan declaring herself the “Hood Mona Lisa” effortlessly over deep house-like chords while “Captain Hook” is the quintessential sex-posi banger that’s already inspired a new viral challenge. Showered with co-signs over the past year, the major name feature still wasn’t needed on Suga. Even with the collaborations on the project, Meg’s still driving the boat. The Kehlani-assisted “Hit My Phone” digs deeper into Meg’s R&B influences with tinges of funk and soul as she finds a pocket of G-Funk that will likely find itself on every major Spotify playlist. Even the Gunna-assisted and Neptunes-produced “Playing With Me” turns her auto-tuned melodies into a deeper foray into the world of pop music without losing her edge.

Suga is surely a project to hold fans over until the smoke settles and she’s ready to release her official debut album. Meg is overall a star that’s just beginning to fulfill her potential. Fever became a glimpse of her greatness but it’s Suga that proves that she’s just beginning to unlock her full potential. Meg proves that the momentum from “Hot Girl Summer” hasn’t died down. However, with her ongoing label dispute, the short nine-track project might only be able to buy her a certain amount of time until fans grow impatient for her formal debut album. 

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Her latest EP Suga is tearing up the charts, proving that Megan Thee Stallion‘s Hot Girl reign is far from over. The Houston rapper has been in a war of words with her label 1501 Certified Entertainment for the last week or so, and according to Megan, they wanted to keep her from releasing new music.  After a court sided with the star, Megan quickly delivered her nine-track offering to the world.

Megan Thee Stallion recently caught up with Teen Vogue for their “Playlist of My Life” segment. In it, the rapper chose nine songs that have played a significant role in her life. She kicks things off by sharing her love for Drake and Chris Brown’s “No Guidance” and then moved on to Owner’s “Dexter Daps.” Megan admitted that she and her friends are “currently wearing out” Roddy Ricch‘s “High Fashion” and that might be because he namedrops Meg on the track.

Then, Lil Wayne & YMCMB came in with “Every Girl” as Megan talked about how Weezy was a large influence in her career. The Suga rapper also praised Nicki Minaj‘s “Boss Ass B*tch” and talked about first meeting the Queen emcee on Instagram Live. “She was just so nice,” Megan said. “She just really embraced me and made me feel really good because going from listening to Nicki Minaj to actually being able to have a conversation with Nicki Minaj to be in a room with Nicki Minaj to making music with Nicki, it was just like, I was so grateful.”

Check out what else Megan Thee Stallion had to say about Juvenile, Dom Kennedy, Pimp C, Bun B, and more with Teen Vogue below.

Megan Thee Stallion has been one of hip-hop’s rising stars these days but she’s yet to release an official debut album. Tomorrow, she’ll be releasing her new project, SUGA which many believed was her debut album. That is not true, though. Speaking to Ebro on Hot 97, she explained her conflict with her label as well as her upcoming project which is actually an EP. “I’m not even going to call it an album because I’m still in the middle of making my album,” she said. “The music that I had made and the songs that I really, really like so far — I was like, ‘Let’s just drop this shit on an EP.'”

Although she couldn’t speak on the situation with 1501 Certified Entertainment, she simply stated that she wanted to make her contract “fair,” in her eyes, explaining that she wasn’t here to become a victim of industry bullying. 

Meg’s been steadily teasing this new project, SUGA for quite some time which many believed would be her debut album. The project’s title is actually the name of the latest alter ego from Megan Thee Stallion who described the character as a “mess.” “You know I got a lot of personalities up here in this head,” Meg explained. “So she’s definitely my new persona that I’m introducing to everybody. Letting people know that it’s okay to be a sensitive gangsta.”

When the clock strikes midnight, Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion will be adding a new piece to her discography, releasing her long-awaited debut studio album SUGA, but the project is wrapped in controversy. For the last week, the 25-year-old Texan has been fighting against her record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment and Carl Crawford, after they reportedly attempted to block her from releasing any new music. The court has denied Crawford’s go at halting the album drop, leaving Megan in the clear to bless her fans. Addressing the drama, she took to Instagram today to air out the label and what they’re doing to her.

“FACTS ARE FACTS AND THE FACTS ARE PUBLIC,” wrote Megan Thee Stallion in relation to the dispute she is currently having with her label. “I’m extremely pleased that 1501 and Carl Crawford were denied the request to dissolve the Court order and try to stop my music from being released. I will proceed with the release of ‘SUGA.'”

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Stalli went on to explain that she will keep standing up for herself, also planning on defending the name of Jay-Z and anybody else that was unfairly mentioned in the legal process. 

“I will stand up for myself and won’t allow two men to bully me, I am NO ONES PROPERTY,” she added. “Y’all are choosing to highlight the issue of music splits…talk about everything else. This has nothing to do with anyone else including JAY-Z, stop deflecting and trying to make this a publicity stunt, I want my rights.”

Earlier on Thursday (March 5), J. Prince responded to the court case by criticizing Megan Thee Stallion, telling her that her deal was fair and that he will be siding with 1501 Certified Entertainment.

What do you make of all this?

It has been a long and winding road during the lead-up to Megan Thee Stallion‘s debut studio album. Last year, the Houston stand-out released her highly-successful commercial mixtape Fever, before announcing that she would be spending time on the creation of her official debut, SUGA. We will get a chance to hear the self-professed Hot Girl’s new project tonight but that was nearly not the case. Her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment and Carl Crawford, have been actively attempting to halt her musical releases but, after a fight in court, Megan reportedly walked away the victor. She is currently involved in a lawsuit with Crawford and 1501 Certified Entertainment, also naming J. Prince from Rap-a-Lot Records in the suit. The respected industry executive has since responded to the case.

“Megan [Thee Stallion], along with Roc Nation Employee Geetanjali Grace Lyer decided to include my name in a lawsuit wrapped around lies and stupidity. We gone get this shit straight,” wrote J. Prince on Instagram, explaining his side of the story in length.

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Prince detailed what he refers to as a common practice in the music industry: the poaching of artists from major labels. “This is the same technique of the culture vultures. I didn’t allow this to happen to me when New York and LA record labels attempted to take my artists- so they labeled me as malicious for fighting back,” wrote Prince. “I didn’t allow it then so I damn sure ain’t gonna allow it to happen to 1501 Records or any of the other independent record labels that I’m associated with.”

J. Prince goes on to inspect the specifics of Megan Thee Stallion’s deal, which he says is actually a good one. However, he critiques Meg for allegedly turning on Carl Crawford, initially viewing him as an angel before now seeing him as the devil.

Read the two posts below.