Chip, previously known as Chipmunk, is being sued in the High Court by a rival grime musician who believes he is due royalties for one of Chip’s greatest singles.
The 2015 song Coward, which was written as a diss track against Tinie Tempah, has more than 32 million listens on Spotify.
But Dirty Danger is suing, saying that he and Chip agreed over the phone to a 50/50 share of all proceeds from the hit, which sampled his 2005 song. A court will now decide on the case on the profane song, which contains the lines “F*** you and your dead chess moves.”
Chip, whose actual name is Jahmaal Fyffe, is well-known for his feuds with other rappers, such as Stormzy.
When his song Oopsy Daisy reached the top of the charts in 2009, he became the youngest UK rapper to achieve this feat.
He won Best Newcomer at the 2008 Mobo Awards, and his first album, I am Chipmunk, went platinum and spawned many top 40 songs.
He has also performed at Wembley Stadium and the Brit Awards. In 2009, he allegedly earned £1.5 million, making him the highest-paid British rapper at the moment.
In court filings filed by his attorneys, Dirty Danger’s attorney Jamie Muir Wood states that Chip’s song is mostly based on a 2005 single named “Together” by Dirty Danger.
The MC, whose actual name is David Nkrumah, claims that the two men agreed in October 2015 that Chip may ‘exploit’ the music for his new single Coward on the condition that Dirty Danger would get fifty percent of ‘anything’ the tune produced.
The attorney said that the two rappers agreed to the contract over the phone since the music had to be released that night as a reaction to Tinie Tempah’s salvo in their “diss” war.
But when the formal contract for usage of the tune came, it did not address ‘accounting for and payments of royalties produced via the track’s use, other than the mechanical license,’ he added.
The attorney said that Chip violated the agreement that the two rappers purportedly established over the phone.
“Mr. Nkrumah has received some limited payments for the exploitation of the song, but he does not think that these profits represent 50 percent of all earnings collected by Mr. Fyffe and/or Cash Motto,” he continues.
Chip acknowledges that Coward used Dirty Danger’s tune, but claims there was a 50/50 sharing agreement.
In his defense against the accusation, his attorney Richard Colbey asserts, “It is conceded and alleged that the parties entered into a legally enforceable contract.”
“The first defendant did not agree to account to Mr. Nkrumah for anything, and no agreement was established about payment of master royalties produced by exploitation of the music to the claimant.”
The claimant agreed to offer the first defendant an irrevocable license to use a work sample.
“The claimant’s contribution to the track…was as a beatmaker/producer.”
‘At the relevant period, the industry norm was for beatmakers/producers to be paid fifty percent of publishing royalties and either to earn no master royalties or, if a portion of master royalties was provided, to get a three to six percent share.
He said that the claimant had been paid all royalties owed to him under the terms of the agreement.
During a pre-trial hearing, Judge Richard Hacon allowed Dirty Danger’s attorneys’ request for Chip to divulge his earnings from the track to date.
The court said that background information on the defendant’s finances in relation to this track, such as sales disclosure, might be helpful.
Additionally, Dirty Danger is suing Cash Motto Records, Chip’s record company.
The matter will be heard again at a later date.