A New York City bus driver and musician by the name of Terrence Thomas has issued a lawsuit that claims that he was not properly credited or paid for his work on the Tupac Shakur track ‘Dear Mama’.
Thomas used to DJ and produce under the name Master Tee and has claimed that he played a crucial role in the creation of the late rapper’s 1995 track. The lawsuit comprises evidence, including interviews with Tupac and handwritten credits.
Master Tee had been credited as a co-producer on ‘Dear Mama’, court documents. Still, the court documents show that Thomas believes he was “never properly and fully credited for his publishing copyright.”
“A self-serving group, led by an upstart music producer, Tony D. Pizarro, conspired with executives at Interscope Records and Universal Music Group (UMG), misappropriated Master Tee’s publishing copyright and master recording copyright and assumed the identity of writer/publisher of Dear Mama’s music,” read the suit.
The Library Of Congress describes the track as “a moving and eloquent homage to both the murdered rapper’s own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty and societal indifference.”
‘Dear Mama’ arrived as the lead single from Tupac’s third studio album ‘Me Against The World’ and has gone triple platinum since its release in 1995.
Listen to ‘Dear Mama’ below.
