Bus driver claims he’s owed rights and royalties for work on Tupac’s ‘Dear Mama’

nme.com:

Tupac‘s ‘Dear Mama’.Terrence Thomas, a New York City bus driver and musician who used to DJ and produce under the name Master Tee, claimed he played an important role in the creation of the late rapper’s 1995 track.

His lawsuit cites various interviews with Tupac himself as well as the handwritten credits the late rapper wrote which names Thomas as the creator of the song’s original beat.Though Thomas was credited as a co-producer on ‘Dear Mama’, court documents obtained by Music Business Worldwide show Thomas claimed he was “never properly and fully credited for his publishing copyright.”He alleged that producer Tony D.

Pizarro, label Interscope and its parent company Universal Music Group had “conspired” to obscure his role in creating the track as a way to keep him from earning his royalties as co-writer of the song.“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.‘Dear Mama’ served as the lead single from Tupac’s third studio LP ‘Me Against The World’.