T-Pain sues Akon's Konvict again, saying half his share of a $1.3 million royalty payment went to an affiliate

T-Pain has sued Konvict Entertainment, the label co-founded by Akon, for the second time, alleging that the company withheld $489,047 of a royalty payment it received from a distributor in March.

The arithmetic in the complaint

According to the complaint as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, theGrio and others, Konvict received a payment of roughly $1.3 million from a distributor at the end of March 2026 for T-Pain's music. T-Pain, whose legal name is Faheem Rashad Najm, says his 2005 recording agreement and a 2025 settlement agreement entitle him to 75 percent of the net royalties Konvict receives from distributors.

Rather than paying that share, the complaint alleges, Konvict routed half of the payment, $652,063.50, to an affiliated label called BuVision, and in June 2026 paid T-Pain $489,047, which is three-quarters of the half that remained. The suit says he is owed the other $489,047, three-quarters of the half that was diverted.

The claims pleaded are breach of the recording agreement and breach of the 2025 settlement. The filing was made in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia in early September.

The first suit

This is not the first time the two have been in that courthouse. T-Pain sued Konvict in 2018 over payments under the same 2005 agreement, and that case was resolved by the 2025 settlement the new complaint now says has been breached. The settlement's terms, as described in the reports, are what fix the 75 percent figure.

What Konvict says

Konvict Entertainment and Akon had not responded publicly to the complaint in the reports NVR.news reviewed. Either may reach the editor at the address on the masthead, and any reply will be added here.

Why it matters below the fame line

The mechanism alleged here, a label receiving a distributor payment and moving part of it to an affiliate before the artist's percentage is computed, does not depend on the artist being famous. It depends on the artist being able to see the distributor's statement. T-Pain could see this one because the settlement gave him the right to; most independent artists on a label deal see only what the label chooses to forward.

NVR.news is published by the company behind SNVRKOTICS, which sells royalty-statement software to independent artists and labels. It has no relationship with either party to this case that the editor is aware of.