A authorized battle over authorship and compensation has erupted round Tyla’s breakthrough single, “Water,” which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Scorching 100 in 2023 and earned a Grammy Award for Finest African Music Efficiency.
Two U.S.-based songwriters have filed a brand new lawsuit towards the 23-year-old South African pop sensation, claiming they have been wrongfully excluded from manufacturing credit score and earnings for the worldwide hit track.
Billboard Professional reported that the brand new grievance was filed on Friday, July 25, towards Tyla (Tyla Seethal), British producer Sammy SoSo (Samuel Awuku), and Sony Music Leisure, the father or mother enterprise of Tyla’s label Epic Data, by songwriters Olmo Zucca and Jackson LoMastro.
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The plaintiffs declare that though they co-produced the track in a March 2023 session in Los Angeles, they have been deliberately overlooked of the manufacturing credit and earnings.
Zucca and LoMastro are actually requesting official producer credit for “Water,” a producer price—the usual fee given to top-line producers on business releases—and a royalty enhance to 12.5% every, each retroactively and sooner or later.
Based on the grievance, “Water” has already remodeled $10 million and should ultimately attain over $50 million, based mostly on business patterns and the track’s continued success.
“As a result of defendants have refused to acknowledge plaintiffs’ standing as topline producers of the track, and have didn’t pay plaintiffs all the royalties they’re owed from the track, plaintiffs have every suffered harm in reality,” the lawsuit states.
However this isn’t the primary lawsuit the pair has introduced a grievance regarding “Water.” An identical grievance was filed earlier this 12 months, in March 2025, but it surely was voluntarily dismissed on July 24, earlier than being refiled the next day with new authorized illustration.
Zucca and LoMastro declare to have labored with each SoSo and fellow producer Rayo (Rayan El-Hussein Goufar) on the 2023 studio session. Formally, they’re listed as co-writers on the final track, however the two declare that SoSo signed an unique contract with Tyla and claimed sole manufacturing credit score, all of the whereas tricking them into signing what they describe as an unjust and deceptive royalty association.
They declare that the contract restricted their publication royalties to 10% every, in comparison with 15% for SoSo, and excluded them completely from producer recognition and remuneration.
“Though plaintiffs tried for months to resolve the matter with Awuku, Awuku refused to cooperate and, as an alternative, engaged in a sample of deception designed to hide his nefarious actions,” per the lawsuit.
Based on the lawsuit, Zucca and Epic Data President Ezekiel Lewis met in Could 2024, and Lewis claimed that SoSo had not disclosed the involvement of any co-producers to the label.
READ ALSO: Tyla: “Water” Crooner Named Model Ambassador Of Pandora
Other than the pressure of court docket instances, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter simply made a comeback together with her new mixtape since her historic debut.
Based on RTT Information, the brand new track bundle, WWP, consists of the brand new singles “BLISS” and “IS IT” in addition to different brand-new music. The four-track venture was produced by P. Priime and Sammy Soso, with WizKid making a visitor look on “DYNAMITE.”
Moreover, Tyla’s in style singles “PUSH 2 START” and “JUMP” from her gold-certified deluxe album TYLA+ have earned an RIAA certification.
She can also be scheduled to carry out on the prestigious International Citizen Pageant in New York this September.
READ ALSO: Tyla Wins iHeartRadio World Artiste of the Yr
