Lil Durk Faces Legal Battle Over Alleged Attempt To Sell Song Rights Twice

Rapper Lil Durk, legally known as Durk Derrick Banks, is currently entangled in a legal dispute as he faces a fraud lawsuit filed by fintech startup Exceed Talent Capital.

The lawsuit alleges that Lil Durk attempted to sell the rights to his song “Bedtime” to Exceed Talent Capital, despite being under an exclusive contract with Sony Music Entertainment’s Alamo Records.

Court documents obtained by Music Business Worldwide reveal that Exceed Talent Capital entered into an agreement with Lil Durk to acquire the rights to “Bedtime” for $600,000. However, the fintech startup later discovered that Durk had previously assigned the exact same rights to a third party.

The legal complaint details that Lil Durk and Exceed had announced a partnership in October to provide fans with a “Trenches All-Access Pass,” akin to an NFT (non-fungible token).

The pass included access to a private Grand Theft Auto roleplay server created by the rapper, with a waitlist of over 15,000 users.

Fans were promised lifetime access, exclusive in-game wearables, and priority access to shares from the proceeds of “Bedtime.”

Exceed alleges that in May, Alamo Records informed them of Lil Durk’s exclusive recording agreement, stating that neither Exceed nor distributor Empire had the rights to assign any interest in revenue streams generated by “Bedtime.”

Subsequently, Exceed claims it was compelled to return funds invested by third parties, causing significant damage to the startup’s reputation and relationships with partners and investors.

Having reportedly paid $450,000 of the $600,000 owed, Exceed claims damages of $12 million over the failed deal.

The lawsuit not only targets Lil Durk but also includes his manager Andrew “Dilla” Bonsu, Only The Family Entertainment, Inc, OTF Label, and firm TTPMG.

In an unrelated development, it was recently reported that the artist formerly known as Kanye West expressed interest in buying out Lil Durk’s contract from Sony.