A lawsuit has been filed against Tupac Shakur’s estate by Death Row Records producer Daz Dillinger, born Delmar Arnaud, who is claiming it owes him unpaid royalties from more than a dozen songs he co-wrote and produced.
In a May 8 filing obtained by Billboard, the songs under question include five tracks from Shakur’s final album released during his lifetime, All Eyez on Me, including “Ambitionz az a Ridah,” “Skandalouz,” “Got My Mind Made Up,” “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” and “I Ain’t Mad at Cha.”
In the complaint, Arnaud claims that after he requested royalties in 2024, he was paid $91,000 by Amaru Entertainment, the company that manages Shakur’s music assets, but was not given any royalty statements to validate the amount.
A lawyer for Arnaud declined to comment to Rolling Stone. In a statement to Billboard, an attorney for Arnaud, Bret Lewis, argued that, “At a minimum, Amaru has failed to render statements and/or pay sums due within the applicable limitations periods and continuing to the present.” He added, “The precise amount owed will be shown according to proof after an accounting and discovery.”
A rep for Shakur’s estate did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
In 2001, the late Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother and co-administrator of his estate, sued Arnaud for copyright-infringement and claimed he was planning to release, without permission from the estate, master recordings by Shakur that Arnaud produced while working for Death Row Records. That case settled out of court the following year.
