Flo Milli is facing a copyright lawsuit over her hit 2023 song “Never Lose Me,” which allegedly sampled a beat that had been exclusively licensed to a man in Baltimore four years earlier.
The Friday (June 27) lawsuit targets Flo Milli (Tamia Monique Carter) over “Never Lose Me,” which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as Detroit rappers Babyface Ray (Marcellus Rayvon Register) and 42 Dugg (Dion Marquise Hayes) for their 2023 song “Ron Artest,” which Milli sampled on “Never.”
A man named Shamar Deal, who describes himself as a Baltimore, Md.-based songwriter and recording artist, claims that both “Never Lose Me” and “Ron Artest” infringe his exclusive license to a beat called “Youu” by the producer Gerreaux Katana.
According to the lawsuit, Deal bought “Youu” from Katana via the rap instrumental marketplace Traktrain in 2019. Deal says he was granted an exclusive license to the beat that was supposed to last 10 years.
But Katana allegedly violated this agreement in 2023 by re-licensing “Youu” to Babyface Ray and 42 Dugg, who used it as the foundation for “Ron Artest.” Deal says Flo Milli then sampled “Ron Artest” for “Never Lose Me,” repeating the Detroit rappers’ supposed infringement.
“As plaintiff currently holds the exclusive right to the composition, the incorporation of the composition in ‘Ron Artest’ and ‘Never Lose Me’ constitutes copyright infringement of Deal’s exclusive rights in the composition track,” writes Deal’s attorney Larry Zerner. “Deal brings the current lawsuit to recover damages for the violation of his copyright.”
Deal is seeking at least $1 million from Flo Milli, Babyface Ray, 42 Dugg and Katana. He also names EMPIRE and Sony Music Entertainment as defendants, saying the companies distributed the two songs at issue.
“Never Lose Me” was a chart success in 2023 and 2024, also climbing to No. 2 on Billboard‘s Rhythmic Airplay, No. 5 on Hot Rap Songs, No. 6 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 7 on Streaming Songs.
The track has generated 947.5 million on-demand official streams globally, with 531.3 million of those in the United States, according to data from Luminate.
Billboard reached out to all the defendants or their reps for comment on the lawsuit Friday, but did not immediately receive any responses.
