Chris Brown Faces Lawsuit Over Claimed Omission From ‘Sensational’ And ‘Monalisa’ Royalties
Lyricist Steve Chokpelle is taking legal action against Chris Brown, alleging that he has been excluded from receiving royalties for two popular songs.
Chris Brown is currently dealing with a federal lawsuit filed by songwriter Steve Chokpelle, known as Muse, who claims he co-wrote two of the R&B star’s popular songs but has not been compensated with any royalties.
Chokpelle submitted the complaint on Wednesday (Feb. 4), asserting that he composed the lyrics for “Sensational,” a song from Brown’s 2023 album 11:11, which achieved the top position on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and reached No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100. He mentions that he is the writer of the 2022 song “Monalisa,” a collaboration featuring Brown, Lojay, and Sarz, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart and No. 38 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart.
“The defendants have gained significant advantages and will persist in reaping substantial rewards by [earning] millions in revenues, acclaim, accolades, and goodwill from the commercial exploitation of ‘Monalisa’ and ‘Sensational,’” the lawsuit states. “Due to the defendants’ neglect to recognize the plaintiff’s authorship and copyright ownership, along with their failure to provide compensation, the defendants have experienced unjust enrichment.”
The lawsuit states that Chokpelle composed the lyrics for “Monalisa” during a 2020 session with Brown and singer Sean Kingston at Brown’s residence in Tarzana, California. He claims he was not acknowledged on the song and “never received any compensation despite ‘Monalisa’s’ commercial success.”
Chokpelle asserts that he wrote the lyrics for “Sensational” in 2023 in collaboration with producer Onyekachi Emenalo, also known as Krazytunez, and subsequently shared the song with Brown. Although Chokpelle is acknowledged as a composer in the track’s credits, he states that he was deliberately excluded from the copyright registration and has not received any revenues at all.
The lawsuit requests a court order to recognize Chokpelle as an author and co-copyright owner of both songs, along with a demand for at least $1 million in damages for claims of unjust enrichment and fraud against Brown, Kingston, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).
On Wednesday, representatives for Brown, Sony, and UMPG were unavailable for comment. Kingston, who is presently incarcerated due to a separate fraud conviction, was unavailable for comment.
