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Last week, Plies filed a motion to dismiss a copyright lawsuit he had filed against Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, and Cardi B in November 2024. According to Vibe, a copy of the motion, obtained by a media outlet on Friday, stated that Plies has dropped the case "without prejudice." It also meant that he could opt to refile it in the future, in case he changes his mind.
Plies filed the lawsuit against the artists when the Ritz Carlton rapper accused them of sampling one of his songs on their 2024 collaboration, Wanna Be, without his permission. The suit charged the trio with committing copyright infringement by using elements of his 2008 song, Me & My Goons, on their track. Other defendants in Plies' lawsuit include the Universal Music Group (UMG), Megan's Hot Girl Productions, Collective Music Group, and Interscope.
Soulja Boy was also one of its defendants, with the 100 Years rapper claiming he sampled the same song for his 2021 track, Pretty Boy Swag. Bay's former label, Collipark Productions, is also mentioned in it.
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Per Vibe, LilJuMadeDaBeat - the producer behind Wanna Be - claimed at the time that his track featured a credited sample of an older Soulja Boy song. Originally named Max Julian, the producer is also a longtime collaborator and friend of Stallion.
This nullified the claim made in the Florida rappers' lawsuit. The producer also revealed that the 2024 track has elements lifted off of My Dougie - a 2006 song released by Bay, which was released before his Me & My Goons.
Wanna Be - the track Plies sued - dropped as part of GloRilla's second mixtape last year
Plies' copyright infringement lawsuit came in the wake of the release of Wanna Be on April 5, 2024. Released through Interscope Records and Collective Music Group, the song belonged to GloRilla's second mixtape, titled Ehhthang Ehhthang.
Backed by producers like Yo Gotti, Payday, Ace Charisma, and MKMentality, it also samples Project Pat's Don't Save Her. Nearly a month after the song came out, GloRilla and Megan got together with Cardi B for its remix.
Back when the lawsuit was filed, Aaron J. Thornton - Plies' attorney - spoke in support of his decision, clarifying that the Plenty Money rapper didn't have anything against the artists behind the song. Thornton's statement read:
"This lawsuit isn't a strategically timed attack against Black women. Plies has said a lot of meaningful and important things in support of Black women."
Then naming UMG as the main defendant benefitting from the song, Plies' lawyer added:
"This is a lawsuit where the first name up who has the actual pockets here is Universal Music Group. My communication is directed to the record labels, the people who actually own the music. The artists are wonderful artists This isn't an attack on any of these artists."
The UMG has been involved in more than one legal action, with Drake suing the organization for defamation over Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us in January 2025. The newest allegation that UMG faces is from Iggy Azalea, who claims that the label owes millions of dollars in royalties.
On Saturday, March 15, the Australian rapper accused UMG of not paying her the international royalties of her music throughout her career. Per Billboard, Azalea wrote in an X tweet:
"Crazy how in my entire career I was never paid a single royalty by Universal Music for anything outside of the USA. They owe me millions of dollars in back pay, that they technically stole from me, as per my contract I am due payment. The amount owed is in the 8-figure range."
Iggy further revealed that when her attorney contacted the UMG's legal representatives about the money owed, they offered them a settlement of $18K. She was also told that while this was the organization's usual offer for most claims when things were taken to court, they would end up paying the full amount after a legal defeat.
The UMG is yet to issue a public response to Iggy Azalea's accusations.
Plies isn't a stranger to sampling disputes in the industry. Per Tribune, the Becky rapper once denied Kodak Black permission to sample one of his songs for a new project.
