Kanye West has been hit with a lawsuit by his longtime music publishing company EMI, alleging breach of contract. The suit, filed in Federal court in Manhattan, follows Kanye’s own January lawsuit against EMI in which he claimed that his contract violated California law because it lasted more than seven years without allowing him “one moment of freedom.”
On Thursday, EMI counter-sued, noting that the rapper is not under a personal service contract with EMI, and arguing that his contract should be under the jurisdiction of New York’s laws.
In EMI’s lawsuit, the label’s attorneys accused Kanye of filing in California in a “flagrant attempt to forum shop his way around the exclusive New York forum selection clause and New York choice of law clauses.”
In its suit, EMI alleges that West failed to deliver contractually agreed upon music and is seeking a declaratory judgment, as well as injunctive relief from West’s lawsuits, as well as coverage of EMI’s legal costs.
West announced his ninth studio album Yandhi in September, but missed the album’s initial release date of September 29th after a baffling appearance on Saturday Night Live where he debuted a poorly-received cut off the album but did not identify it as such.
Subsequently, West’s wife Kim Kardashian announced a rescheduled date of November 23, 2018, but that date proved to be illusory as well. In December, Kanye revealed that the album wasnt’ finished and announced he was heading to Uganda to record material.
West has also reportedly been conducting Sunday studio sessions which include gospel versions of his previous works with collaborators such as Tony Williams and Ant Clemons. As of yet, no new release date for the album has been announced.
Read the full lawsuit here.
photo: David Shankbone [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
