Summary:
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In a complaint filed in Florida’s Southern District, Surface Media, the parent business of Surface Magazine, claims that disgraced rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, owes royalties totalling $145,813.
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Ye spent money using Miami’s trendy Design District’s Surface Area, a showroom and rental facility, for a significant but unidentified recording project.
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Charges include unjust enrichment and violation of the contract.
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Budgets were validated along the way by Ye’s team: a $125,000 rental for 25 days, $20,000 for renovating, and $813 for four new office chairs.
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Surface Media is suing for the $145,813 owed and reimbursement for the costs associated with the lawsuit.
In a lawsuit filed in Florida’s Southern District, Surface Media, which owns Surface Magazine, says that Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, owes $145,813 in royalties. Ye spent money to use Surface Area, a showroom and rental space in Miami’s trendy Design District, for an important but unnamed recording project.
The complaint says that Ye’s project involves 88-Keys, Pardi, Steven Victor, Laurence Chandler, and other members of Ye’s creative team, but it doesn’t name them as defendants. Charges include unjust enrichment and violation of the contract.
Ye and his partners went to Surface Area at the beginning of January 2022 to ask if they could use the space as a studio for an unnamed project for the whole month. They had the contract confirmed by January 5.
Surface Area agreed to change the design showroom and event rental area to meet Ye’s needs. According to the lawsuit, this meant replacing artwork, furniture, and design elements worth more than $50 million with ones that Ye liked better and making the interior fit his “desired color scheme.”
Speaking at Surface Magazine’s DesignDialogues No. 6 at the Moore Building in Miami, Florida, on December 5, 2013, were Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jacques Herzog, and Kanye West. John Parra/Getty Images provided the picture for Surface Magazine.
Late on January 5, in the evening, staff members started customizing the Surface Area as promised. Ye’s team validated budgets along the way: a $125,000 rental for 25 days; $20,000 for renovation; and $813 for four new office chairs. 88-Keys and Pardi started recording after bringing in their audio equipment.
On January 7, Surface Area sent you an invoice. He continues to “fail to pay any amounts whatsoever,” according to their complaint. Surface Media is suing to get back the $145,813 it is owed and the money it spent on the lawsuit.
The lawyer for Surface Media, Jonathan Smulevich of Miami’s Lowy & Cook, said, “My client turned its art studio into a recording studio for Ye and the musicians who were with him in what was essentially a one-night job.” No request was too small or large.
Smulevich said that Surface Media hopes for a short, easy trial so that it can get the money it deserves. He said that the date of this lawsuit has nothing to do with the large response to Ye’s recent anti-Semitic comments, which caused major companies like Adidas, Balenciaga, and Gap to stop working with him.
Smulevich continued, “As to who will represent Ye, I do not know at this time.” We previously spoke with his attorneys, but they have informed us that they are no longer on his side.
Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
