Without any final resolution being reached in Megan Thee Stallion‘s highly-publicized dispute with her record label, she announced today that she would be dropping her debut album Suga this Friday (Mar. 6). It was reported earlier this week that the Houston rapper had obtained a temporary restraining order against her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, which would allow her to release new music as soon as she wished. Fans rejoiced when they discovered they’d be receiving her whole album imminently, rather than just a single, but now 1501 is threatening to sabotage everything. 

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According to TMZ, Carl Crawford, the CEO of 1501, has filed a motion to dissolve the temporary restraining order, as Meg’s contract supposedly stipulates that all disputes must be settled in arbitration. Therefore, he claims she had no right running to the court for a judge to intervene. Crawford is imploring that an emergency court hearing be held in Harris County, Texas today to put a halt to the Houston Hottie’s plans. 

While the $1 million lawsuit that Meg filed against her label on Sunday (Mar. 1) highlighted the lopsidedness of her recording contract and the disappointment Crawford’s despotism would be causing her fans, he’s arguing that she’s still obligated to abide by the contract that places control of her music distribution in his hands. Unless his demands are met – he alleges that Meg hasn’t paid him his rightful share of her profits for months – then he will do all in his power to block the release of Suga. 

Megan Thee Stallion’s rallying cry for fans to fight for her freedom from her record label sparked a forceful response. When the stipulations of her imbalanced recording contract were revealed in her lawsuit against the label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, Meg’s Hotties were even more convinced that intervention was required. Then, the CEO of 1501, Carl Crawford, did an interview with Billboard and denied all of the Houston rapper’s accusations. We are now left in the middle of a “he said, she said” situation, where the claims being made by both parties are equally wild and damning. 

Crawford is tracing the root of this mess to Meg’s desire to get out of her deal with 1501 in favor of signing with Roc Nation. While Meg told the masses that her label was blocking her from releasing new music because she had requested to renegotiate her contract, Crawford insists that her expectations weren’t that simple. “Their real plan was to get you out of my contract so they can sign you to Roc Nation,” Crawford told Billboard, while directly addressing Meg. “Then, she’s getting $100,000 a show and she don’t want to pay up. That’s what the issue was about. She signed with Roc Nation in August and decided she didn’t wanna pay me no more.”

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Crawford is convinced that Meg stopped paying him his contractually-obligated share of her income as a “strong-arm tactic” to get her released to the Roc. However, this isn’t the only tactic Crawford says she’s using to win this battle. “Ok, tell everybody your definition of negotiating. Your definition is, ‘OK. I’m going to send Suge Knight’s old lawyers to come in, and it’s a stick-up…’ Of course, I’m like, ‘This isn’t a negotiation. This is a robbery.'”

In the interview, Crawford repeatedly mentioned the forcefulness of Meg’s lawyers, describing his encounter with them as a “stick-up” and suggesting they “want to take [him] out.” He also alleged, “they’re threatening me, my kids, everybody”, but the “they” he was referring to in this context was vague. Her legal team’s desired outcome from this intimidation is that Crawford will agree to reduce her four-album deal to just one, so she can be freed ASAP. Crawford is not too willing to cooperate since Meg has supposedly been stiffing him of his fees and also because her own mother and her current manager, T. Farris, were the ones responsible for writing up her contract. Therefore, he doesn’t see anything unfair about her arrangement. 

We’ll have to wait and see how this unfolds, but Meg has obtained a temporary restraining order from 1501 that allows her to drop her debut album Suga this Friday!