T-Pain is taking Konvict Entertainment back to court, more than a year after settling an earlier royalty dispute with the record label that helped launch his career.

The Grammy-winning singer and producer, whose legal name is Faheem Rashad Najm, filed an 80-page lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia on Sept. 4, alleging Konvict Entertainment owes him $489,047.76 in royalties connected to his music.

The lawsuit accuses Konvict of breaching both T-Pain’s original 2005 recording agreement and a 2025 settlement that was supposed to resolve years of royalty disputes between the two sides.

Akon, who co-founded Konvict Entertainment and played a major role in T-Pain’s early career, is not personally named as a defendant. Konvict Entertainment is the sole defendant in the new lawsuit.

The Dispute Centers on a $1.3 Million Royalty Payment

At the center of the lawsuit is more than $1.3 million that T-Pain alleges Konvict received from distributor Zomba Recordings on March 30.

According to the complaint, the $1,304,127 payment represented royalties generated from T-Pain’s record sales during the second half of 2025.

T-Pain claims his agreements with Konvict entitle him to 75% of the net royalties the label receives from distributors for his record sales.

Konvict subsequently paid T-Pain $489,047 in early June.

But according to the lawsuit, that represented only half of the amount T-Pain says he was entitled to receive.

The remaining portion allegedly went to BuVision, an affiliate operated by Akon’s younger brother, Abou “Bu” Thiam. T-Pain claims Konvict directed his representatives to pursue BuVision for the remaining money instead of paying the balance itself.

Neither BuVision nor Thiam is named as a defendant in T-Pain’s lawsuit.

T-Pain Says Attempts to Collect the Money Failed

T-Pain alleges his representatives attempted to recover the outstanding money directly from BuVision but were unsuccessful.

According to the complaint, T-Pain's representatives contacted BuVision in June after Konvict directed them there, but the attempts did not result in payment.

His attorneys subsequently notified Konvict that they believed the company had failed to satisfy its obligations under the 2025 settlement.

“To date, Konvict has not cured its breach of the 2025 Settlement Agreement following Najm’s written notice,” the complaint states.

T-Pain is now asking the court to award him the remaining $489,047.76 he claims he is owed, along with prejudgment interest and attorney fees.

This Isn't T-Pain’s First Lawsuit Against Konvict

The new case revives a royalty battle that stretches back years.

T-Pain first sued Konvict Entertainment in 2018, accusing the label of failing to properly pay royalties under the recording agreement he signed in 2005.

Konvict denied liability in that case.

After years of litigation and mediation, the two sides reached a settlement in 2025. Court records reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show Konvict agreed to pay T-Pain $114,000, resolving royalty claims covering payments collected through the end of 2024.

The latest dispute concerns royalties generated after the period covered by that settlement.

T-Pain now alleges the label violated not only the original recording agreement but also the terms of the settlement that ended their previous courtroom fight.

A Partnership That Helped Launch T-Pain’s Career

The lawsuit adds another chapter to a business relationship that was once instrumental in T-Pain’s rise.

T-Pain signed with Konvict in 2005, during the period when Akon was emerging as one of the biggest artists and music executives of the era.

Konvict released T-Pain’s debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, that same year. The project included breakout records that helped establish his Auto-Tune-heavy vocal style and launch a run that would make him one of the defining voices of late-2000s popular music.

T-Pain and Akon also collaborated musically over the years, including Akon’s appearance on T-Pain’s 2007 hit “Bartender.” T-Pain contributed songwriting to Akon’s multiplatinum Konvicted album as well.

Now, however, their longstanding business connection is again being examined through a royalty dispute.

The allegations remain T-Pain’s claims and have not been adjudicated. Konvict denied liability in the previous litigation, and as of the initial reporting on the new lawsuit, the company had not publicly responded to the latest allegations.

For T-Pain, the new case comes down to an agreement he says was supposed to settle the matter once and for all.

Less than a year after that settlement, he is back in court seeking nearly half a million dollars he claims should already have been paid.