Marquis Ross, the former member of 2 Live Crew known as Brother Marquis, has filed a federal lawsuit against Jay-Z seeking royalties from "99 Problems
- Nov 18, 2005
AceShowbiz - Marquis Ross, so people call him. A former member of 2 Live Crew, Ross has filed lawsuit against Ice-T and Jay-Z, claiming he is entitled to royalties for a song titled "99 Problems" made famous by Jay-Z as part of his top-selling "The Black Album."
The court papers, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, mentioned that Ross claims he wrote lyrics and a beat similar to those featured in the chorus of the song which was eventually copyrighted by Jay-Z. Further, Ross claims that Jay-Z's 2003 and 2004 recordings are based on a song by the same name that was released a decade earlier on Ice-T's "Home Invasion" album.
Also Ross alleges that he was asked by Ice-T to appear on that track and had performed parts of it before their collaboration. In fact, Ice-T never put Ross' name on the copyright and refused to pay royalties to him until 2005, when he made a "partial payment" of $10,000. Thus, Ross is requesting back royalties and punitive damages. Though, representatives for both rappers have yet give comment on the matter.
