Cam’ron filed a lawsuit against J. Cole over the release of their song “Ready 24,” claiming he was never paid or credited for his work on the track.
Cam’ron has filed a federal lawsuit against J. Cole in New York, accusing the Grammy-winning rapper of releasing their joint track “Ready 24” without permission or payment.
Cam’ron claims Cole and his company, Cole World Inc., along with Universal Music Group, dropped the song on Cole’s 2024 project Might Delete Later without his sign-off, violating their verbal agreement.
The Harlem rapper says he and Cole recorded “Ready 24” in June 2022 at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan.
According to the complaint, the two had a verbal understanding: the song would not be released unless Cole either featured on one of Cam’ron’s singles or appeared on his sports-and-culture show It Is What It Is.
Cam’ron alleges Cole went ahead with the release anyway, without notice and without credit. The lawsuit points out that while both artists are listed as co-authors of the composition with the U.S. Copyright Office, the master recording lacks proper registration and acknowledgment.
Cam’ron also claims he never signed over his rights to the song and has not received any royalties despite the track’s commercial rollout. He estimates he is owed at least $500,000 in unpaid earnings.
The lawsuit demands that the court officially recognize Cam’ron as a co-author of the master recording and order a full financial accounting of the song’s revenue. It also seeks his rightful share of the profits.
The complaint outlines the artists’ previous collaboration, noting that Cam’ron contributed a spoken-word intro to Cole’s 2021 album The Off-Season on the track “95 South.”
That feature reportedly sparked conversations about future creative projects. However, the lawsuit says Cole “repeatedly stated he was unavailable” to follow through on any of those plans.
Cam’ron’s legal team argues that Cole and his label “fixed, reproduced, communicated, publicly distributed, sold, and trafficked” the track in New York without authorization.
As of now, Cole and his representatives have not issued a public response.