Pete Rock to sue Nas over unpaid “Illmatic” royalties.
Pete Rock contributed to Nas debut album “Illmatic”, and is now planning to sue the rapper over unpaid royalties from the project. According to Page Six, Pete Rock will file a lawsuit after not being paid for his production & songwriting on “The World Is Yours” track.
Pete Rock and his attorney state that Nas hasn’t paid the producer cut off the classic record, even after signing a contract. “Nas and his people have stonewalled me since 1994; My New Year’s resolution is to be compensated for my hard work on Illmatic,” Pete Rock told Page Six.
Rock and his lawyers say that Nas agreed to give Rock a cut of the profits from “The World Is Yours” as part of a contract. “The World Is Yours,” which is now worth millions of dollars, also has a composition credit and Rock’s vocals. The song was Illmatic’s sole gold-certified single. From Joey Bada$$ (“Hardknock”) to Eminem (“Book of Rhymes”), the song has been sampled the most.
“The World is Yours” is RIAA Certified Gold Single, and is considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. Over the years, the song has been sampled by various artists, including Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Mac Miller, Logic, Jay Electronica and more.
