Nelly Lawsuit Dismissed: Rapper’s Ex-St. Lunatics Bandmate Drops Case Over ‘Country Grammar’

Nelly is off the hook for supposedly unpaid royalties for members of his crew, St. Lunatics. The final remaining member of the crew continuing their lawsuit against Nelly has dropped the suit, although no reason was given.

Ali Jones has dropped the lawsuit the group filed against their former collaborator Nelly in which they claim they never received proper credit or royalties from his 2000 album Country Grammar. Ali was the only remaining St. Lunatics member attached to the case after Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, and City Spud dropped out shortly after it was filed last year, stating they never authorized lawyers to take legal action.

According to Billboard, Ali and his legal representatives did not provide an explanation for why they were voluntarily dismissing the case. Still, they might not be walking away completely unscathed. Legal representatives for Nelly urged the judge presiding over the case to consider delaying the dismissal and holding St. Lunatics accountable for the legal charges incurred.

“Plaintiff’s counsel succeeded in its frivolous campaign aimed at forcing Haynes to spend money defending Plaintiff’s ridiculous time-barred claims,” attorneys for Nelly wrote in their response. “The Court is respectfully requested to retain jurisdiction and set a briefing and hearing schedule for [potential sanctions].”

St. Lunatics are credited with both performing and songwriting across Country Grammar, but the lawsuit against Nelly (born Cornell Haynes) claimed that the final credits undersold their actual contributions to the album, thus depriving them of royalties. “Despite repeatedly promising plaintiffs that they would receive full recognition and credit… it eventually became clear that defendant Haynes had no intention of providing the plaintiffs with any such credit or recognition,” the suit read.

It was framed as a copyright infringement lawsuit, rather than a battle over ownership due to a three-year statute of limitations that was maxed out multiple times over because Country Grammar was released 24 years ago. Nelly was a member of the group before launching as a solo artist.

via: Rolling Stone

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