T.I. Sues Cinq Music For Charging Him $52 Million To Buy Back His Masters

 T.I. has filed a federal lawsuit against Cinq Music, accusing the label of deliberately inflating the price of his classic catalog in an attempt to block him from reclaiming ownership of his masters.

At the center of the dispute is a 2017 deal in which Cinq acquired T.I.’s entire Atlantic Records-era catalog, seven full-length albums, including Trap Muzik (2003), Urban Legend (2004), King (2006), T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007), Paper Trail (2008), No Mercy (2010), and Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head (2012). The purchase was reportedly part of a larger $20 million investment to help launch the then-new independent label, with the masters changing hands for around $10 million at the time.

T.I. has long been vocal about regaining control of his recordings, and the 2017 agreement included a specific buy-back option designed to make that possible. According to the lawsuit filed by T.I.'s label Grand Hustle, the contract allowed him to repurchase the catalog after a set period using a clearly defined formula: 12 times the net profits earned by the catalog during a designated one-year period. Critically, that formula explicitly excluded streaming license fees from platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, as well as any international revenue.

In September 2024, Grand Hustle formally exercised the option. The label allegedly took six months to respond. When Cinq finally provided a price in March 2025, it was $52 million, nearly 20 times higher than what T.I.’s team says the contract requires.

The lawsuit claims that when the numbers are run according to the original agreed-upon formula, the correct repurchase price falls between $2.4 million and $3 million. Cinq’s dramatically higher figure, the suit alleges, was achieved by deliberately including revenue streams the contract barred from consideration and by manipulating royalty deductions. The complaint states that Cinq “regretted that it had agreed to the [option terms], and therefore … did everything it could to frustrate plaintiffs’ efforts to complete the purchase.”

The case shines a fresh spotlight on the ongoing battle many artists face when trying to regain ownership of their masters in an era when catalog sales have become big business. While some artists like Taylor Swift have successfully re-recorded their work or negotiated new deals, T.I.’s situation is unique because he negotiated an explicit repurchase clause nearly a decade ago, only to now find himself in court fighting to enforce it.

Cinq Music has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. Representatives for T.I. also declined additional comment beyond the court filings.