Chad Hugo is suing his Neptunes’ producing companion Pharrell Williams over unpaid royalties, Billboard reports. In a lawsuit filed on Friday, January 23, Hugo claims Williams has refused at hand over essential monetary paperwork and owes him as much as $1 million for work on the 2017 N.E.R.D. album No One Ever Really Dies Alone.
“Williams engaged in self-dealing, hid materials data, and … diverted revenues owed to plaintiff,” Hugo’s legal professional claims, per Billboard. “Such willful, fraudulent, and malicious conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages.”
Pitchfork has reached out to each Hugo and Williams’ respective representatives for additional remark.
In 2024, Hugo accused Williams of in search of sole possession of the Neptunes’ emblems. Williams’ attorneys stated they’d tried to supply Hugo joint possession, however Hugo’s reps claimed the enterprise phrases would have restricted their consumer’s compensation.
Because the Neptunes, Hugo and Williams’ work dominated the late ‘90s and early 2000s pop, rap, and R&B scenes. Between 1998 and 2006, the duo produced greater than a dozen songs that charted on the Scorching 100’s prime 10, together with No. 1 singles “Drop It Like It’s Scorching” by Snoop Dogg, “Hollaback Lady” by Gwen Stefani, and “Cash Maker” by Ludacris. In 2020, the Neptunes have been inducted into the Songwriters Corridor of Fame. The duo are additionally credited as producers in Hugo and Williams’ rap-rock hybrid group with Shay Haley, N.E.R.D.
