Bad Boy Chiller Crew sue record label over £400k in “unpaid” royalties
Bad Boy Chiller Crew have sued their former record label, claiming that they are owed approximately £400,000 in unpaid royalties.
The Bradford rap trio, who were nominated for Best Group at the BRITs 2023, said they had “no other option” but to take legal action against House Anxiety – which signed them in 2020.
BBCC released their mixtape ‘Full Wack No Brakes’ (2020) through the independent label. Its follow-up, ‘Disrespectful’ (2022), and 2023 album ‘Influential’ both arrived via Relentless Records and Sony Music Entertainment UK under exclusive license from House Anxiety.
The group allege that they were supposed to have been sent royalty statements by House Anxiety every six months, but only received the first one in October of this year.
They claim that “vast sums” had been incorrectly deducted from this document. The statement also allegedly did not include the £217,000 that the label had received in its licensing deal with Relentless – a subsidiary of Sony Music.
BBCC state that they cannot accurately calculate how much they are owed overall until they are sent the full set of statements. However, they think this will come to £400,000 at least.
In response, House Anxiety said it “totally refute[s] these claims”. The band have also said that their contract with the label has now ended.
In June, Bad Boy Chiller Crew independently released an EP called ‘Summer 24’. However, the project was subsequently removed from Spotify after House Anxiety claimed it was in breach of its contract.
Bad Boy Chiller Crew have issued a statement via BBC News. It reads: “Like all other bands, we don’t look for litigation, but when faced with a label that won’t let us put our own music out ourselves for our fans and not pay us royalties owed from our own music, we felt we had no other option.”
Jaimie Hodgson, House Anxiety founder, said: “We totally refute these claims and welcome the opportunity to clarify these inaccuracies.
“As an artist-friendly independent label, we remain hugely proud of every element of ‘Full Wack No Breaks’ and all the hard work that went into its campaign, then stepping aside to allow BBCC to pursue their dreams of being a major label artist.”
Hodgson concluded: “There will be no further comment at this time.”
Sharing a screenshot of BBC News‘ article on Instagram today (December 12), BBCC wrote: “Hopefully this clears up a few things for a lot of people. We need our fans’ support more than ever. Thank You.” See the post above.
‘Disrespectful’ reached Number Two in the UK albums chart in 2022. NME gave the project a four-star review, writing: “Bad Boy Chiller Crew clearly just want to keep making songs that purposefully and brilliantly celebrate the hedonistic corners of life – and that desire should be embraced.
“They locate their power not just in the recording booth, but on stage, the race track and the dancefloor, fully self-aware and seemingly unstoppable.”
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Tom Skinner
NME
