Lil Uzi Vert has settled a lawsuit filed against them by Sun City Publishing over an alleged uncleared sample on his track “Strawberry Peels,” thus avoiding federal court.
Court documents obtained by HipHopDX reveal that Sun City Publishing — which owns the rights to Blackout’s 1995 song “Dim Da Lights,” which was allegedly sampled without permission in “Strawberry Peels” — came to a joint settlement agreement with Atlantic Recording Corporation.
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Though the terms of the settlement were not yet disclosed, the parties “have reached an agreement in principle for the resolution of this action, in its entirety, and that they anticipate filing within thirty days their Stipulation to the dismissal of this action,” according to the order.
A previous standing order dated February 28 revealed that the case was set to be moved to federal court prior to the settlement.
The song’s featured artists, Young Thug and Gunna, were also named in the suit.
Initially filed in January, the lawsuit alleged that Sun City never gave Uzi permission to use the sample of the track. Because “Strawberry Peels” has proved to be a hit — amassing over 39 million Spotify streams, more than four million plays on YouTube, and raked in over $1million — Sun City wants at least that amount in damages.
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“Strawberry Peels” was featured on Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake album, which dropped in 2020. The song finds the trio rapping about their frequent drug use and excessive jewelry flexing. Blackout’s “Dim da Lights” was featured on the Memphis rap group’s 1995 album Dreamworld.
The lawsuit is just the latest legal headache for Young Thug and Gunna, who were both indicted last year in a massive RICO case against their Young Slime Life (YSL) collective, which prosecutors allege is a “criminal street gang” behind a series of violent crimes in and around Atlanta.
Gunna secured his freedom by pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in December and was subsequently released from jail. He was sentenced to five years with one year served, accounting for the time he’d spent behind bars since being arrested.
Thug, on the other hand, is facing eight out of a possible 65 charges. Those include conspiracy to violate the RICO and two counts of participation in criminal street gang activity, which were filed when the rapper was originally indicted.
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He has also been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of codeine with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, possession of a firearm, and possession of a machine gun.
