Chris Brown has been sued by a man who claims he co-wrote two successful songs for the R&B star but hasn’t seen a penny in royalties.
Songwriter Steve Chokpelle, also known as Muse, alleged in a Wednesday (Feb. 4) federal court complaint that he wrote the lyrics for “Sensational,” a track off Brown’s 2023 album 11:11, which reached the top of Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and peaked at No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100. Chokpelle also says he was the lyricist for the 2022 track “Monalisa,” a collaboration between Brown, Lojay and Sarz that hit No. 8 on Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs and No. 38 on Billboard‘s Rhythmic Airplay chart.
“Defendants sustained a tremendous benefit, and shall continue to receive tremendous benefit, by [earning] millions in revenues, acclaim, accolades and goodwill from the commercial exploitation of ‘Monalisa’ and ‘Sensational,’” reads the lawsuit. “As a result of defendants’ failure to acknowledge plaintiff’s authorship and copyright ownership interests, and by their failure to compensate plaintiff, defendants have been unjustly enriched.”
According to the lawsuit, Chokpelle wrote the “Monalisa” lyrics during a 2020 session with Brown and fellow singer Sean Kingston at Brown’s home in Tarzana, Calif. But Chokpelle is not credited on the song, and he alleges he “never received any compensation despite ‘Monalisa’s’ commercial success.”
Chokpelle then claims he penned the lyrics for “Sensational” in 2023 alongside producer Onyekachi Emenalo, who goes by the moniker Krazytunez, and later shared the song with Brown. Although Chokpelle is indeed listed as a composer on the “Sensational” credits, he alleges he was intentionally left off the song’s copyright registration paperwork and has been paid “no revenues whatsoever.”
Now, Chokpelle’s lawsuit seeks a court order that would declare him an author and co-copyright owner of both “Monalisa” and “Sensational.” He’s also seeking at least $1 million in damages as part of unjust enrichment and fraud claims against Brown, Kingston, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).
Reps for Brown, Sony and UMPG did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday. Kingston, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence after being convicted of fraud in an unrelated matter, could not immediately be reached for comment.
