
Chris Brown has reached a settlement, resolving a lawsuit that accused him of withholding royalties from a co-writer on two tracks.
Full story below…
According to Billboard, a court notice filed on Monday, June 8, states that Brown and his publisher Universal Music Publishing Group have “reached a settlement in principle” with songwriter Steve Chokpelle. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Chokpelle sued Brown and UMPG in February. He alleged he had been paid “no revenues whatsoever” for helping craft ‘Monalisa‘ and ‘Sensational.’
The lawsuit read:
“Defendants sustained a tremendous benefit, and shall continue to receive tremendous benefit, by [earning] millions in revenues, acclaim, accolades and goodwill from the commercial exploitation of ‘Monalisa’ and ‘Sensational.’ As a result of defendants’ failure to acknowledge plaintiff’s authorship and copyright ownership interests, and by their failure to compensate plaintiff, defendants have been unjustly enriched.”
Chokpelle claimed he wrote the ‘Monalisa’ lyrics during a 2020 session with Brown and Sean Kingston. He also alleged he penned the lyrics for ‘Sensational’ in 2023 alongside producer Onyekachi Emenalo (known as Krazytunez).
Brown’s attorneys had argued that the claims should be dismissed due to the statute of limitations. That motion was pending when the settlement was reached.
Chokpelle also sued Kingston, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence. The settlement with Brown has not resolved those claims.

