Tensions don't seem to be disappearing within the Wu-Tang Clan following the news last week that group member U-God had begun legal proceedings against the hip hop outfit's corporate entity the Wu Music Group.
Rapper U-God, real name Lamont Hawkins, claims the Wu Music Group has failed to pay him his cut of the earnings from the Rock The Bells live venture, from a publishing deal with BMG, from Wu-Tang merchandise sales, and from the advance for new album '8 Diagrams'.
Hawkins filed a lawsuit against the Wu-Tang company last week, which says: "The defendant has failed and/or refused to pay certain monies currently due and owing to plaintiff, despite plaintiff's repeated demands that it do so". The lawsuit is claiming about $170,000 in unpaid fees, plus interest.
As previously reported, other Clan members have recently expressed dissatisfaction with the hip hop outfit, with producer RZA coming under particular crticism. There were tensions late last year with Clan member Ghostface Killah amid reports the new Wu-Tang album would be released on the same day as his new solo offering, while Raekwon told the Miss Info website of various problems he had with RZA and the Wu-Tang company last November, claiming most of the Clan members were not consulting on the group's artistic or commercial decisions.