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Tyla and her producer, Sammy Soso, have been hit with a lawsuit over their hit single ‘Water’.
Songwriters Olmo Zucca and Jackson LoMastro have filed a lawsuit against South African artist Tyla and her producer, Sammy SoSo Awuku, in California over the hit track Water.
Zucca and LoMastro claim they are co-composers and co-authors of the song and are entitled to 12.5% in royalties, but they assert that producer Awuku has only allocated them 10%, which they argue is unfair.
The lawsuit names Tyla, Awuku, and Epic, under which the song was released, as defendants. According to reports, Zucca and LoMastro first sought to resolve the issue with Awuku in July 2023, before Water was officially released, but their attempts to negotiate were rejected.
The plaintiffs maintain that standard industry practice dictates that each producer should receive one-quarter of the 50% music publishing rights.
However, Awuku allegedly took 15% for himself and distributed the remaining 35% unequally, giving Zucca and LoMastro only 10% each. The complaint further reveals that Awuku awarded 5% to Christopher Alan “Tricky” Stewart, who was also involved in the production.
The filing highlights a recording session for Water that took place in Los Angeles between March 8-9, 2023, involving four producers: Zucca, LoMastro, Goufar, and Awuku.
The plaintiffs assert that all four producers contributed equally to the song, and therefore, they should each receive full producer credit and an equal share of royalties.
Tyla’s Water has become a massive commercial success, significantly boosting her global career. The song won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Song Performance, along with multiple awards from the VMAs, EMAs, BET, and AMAs, dominating the 2024 awards season. It also became the first song by an African female artist to exceed 1 billion Spotify streams and has garnered over 303 million views on YouTube.