Chris Brown has been sued by artist and songwriter Steve Chokpelle, who performs as Muso, and who claims that he wrote lyrics for Brown’s tracks ‘Sensational’ and ‘Monalisa’ but has never received any royalties for that work. And in the case of ‘Monalisa’, he wasn’t even credited.
According to a new lawsuit filed in California, pop thug Brown - and his other collaborators and business partners - have “sustained a tremendous benefit, and shall continue to receive tremendous benefit, by earnings millions in revenues, acclaim, accolades and goodwill from the commercial exploitation” of both ‘Sensational’ and ‘Monalisa’, while to date Chokpelle has earned nothing.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare that Chokpelle co-authored the two songs and therefore co-owns the copyrights in them. It also argues that Brown et al should be held liable for unjust enrichment, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and - as a result - be ordered to pay millions in damages.
Chokpelle says he was hanging out at Brown’s home in California in 2020 when he was asked to write lyrics for the song ‘Mona Lisa’, by which he presumably means the remix of that song, on which Brown added extra lyrics to the existing track by Nigerian artists Lojay and Sarz.
According to his lawsuit, Chokpelle “authored and composed” lyrics for the song which was then commercially released the following year, but he was never credited for his work, was not cut into the copyright and has never received any payment.
Then, in 2021, he claims he worked with producer Onyekachi Emenalo on creating ‘Sensational’, which Brown subsequently released in 2023. Chokpelle is credited as a co-writer on that song - for example, he is listed in the songs database operated by collecting society the MLC - but he claims he was never cut into the copyright and has never received any royalties.
And when Brown’s company and label registered the song with the US Copyright Office, they did not list his contribution. That, the lawsuit claims, was “in violation of the law” and “an act of fraud”.
The conduct of Brown and his business partners, the lawsuit concludes, “was intentional, willful, wanton and with reckless disregard to [Chokpelle’s] rights, thereby warranting an additional award for punitive damages”.