#FreeBrandy: R&B Singer Sues Record Label for $1M Over Ability to Make New Music

AP

AP

Singer Brandy filed a lawsuit against her record company Tuesday, saying she hasn’t been able to make new music because of them.

The Grammy-winner filed a suit with the Los Angeles Superior Court against Chameleon Entertainment Group, claiming it won’t allow her to record an album or release new music in an attempt to get her to sign a new record deal.

Brandy has been signed to Chameleon since 2011 and released one album on the label – 2012’s “Two Eleven.” The deal gave CEG the option of releasing four more albums with the R&B star. According to the suit, the label refused to allow the “Beggin’ and Pleadin'” singer to record any new music. It goes on to say that Brandy ended her contract with CEG, but she wants a judge’s ruling that it is void, according to the Associated Press.

The claim goes on to allege Chameleon is bullying the singer, whose real name is Brandy Norwood, “into signing a new recording and distribution agreement containing terms far worse than her current agreement.” The 37-year-old singer is seeking $1 million in compensatory damages, The Grio reports.

Fans have rallied to support the singer on Twitter, starting the hashtag #FreeBrandy.” Support for the star is overwhelming, with a few fans stating they were never happy with Chameleon president Breyon Prescott.

https://twitter.com/4everSiya/status/715573932682842113

https://twitter.com/__CharityFaith/status/715528959291564032

At the start of her career, Brandy was signed to Atlantic Records. She left the company in 2004 after releasing four albums, receiving unconditional release from her contract. After being involved in a car accident in 2006, her search for a new label stalled until two years later. Epic Records signed the singer, and she released “Human” in 2008, but the contract suddenly ended the next year for unknown reasons, Rolling Stone reports.

Brandy has since been busy with an acting career, first on Broadway as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” and most recently on Black Entertainment Television’s “Zoe Ever After.” Brandy hasn’t lost interest in creating music, however. She has called season 3 “American Idol” winner Fantasia asking if she’d like to do a song with her and Grammy-nominated R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan, according to Rolling Out.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top