The British rap group Bad Boy Chiller Crew has filed a lawsuit in the High Court against their record label, claiming they are due approximately £400,000 in unpaid royalties.
Last year, the Bradford three, who are well-known for their upbeat bassline anthems, received a nomination for the Brit Award for best group.
After signing the group in 2020 and releasing their Full Wack No Breaks mixtape that same year, they claim they had “no other alternative” except to file a lawsuit against the House Anxiety label.
In response, House Anxiety appreciated the opportunity to “clarify these falsehoods” and stated that they “completely dispute these assertions.”
According to Bad Boy Chiller Crew, they just received their first royalty statement in October 2024, even though they were expected to receive them every six months from the label.
The band claims that “huge sums” were incorrectly subtracted from that royalty statement, which excluded the £217,000 that House Anxiety had obtained in a licensing agreement with a big label Sony subsidiary.
According to the claim, unless the group receives a complete set of accounts, they will be unable to determine the exact amount owed. However, they estimate that it will be at least £400,000.
The group also argue their contract with House Anxiety has ended.
In June, they independently published a new single and EP, but because House Anxiety complained that it was against their contract, they took both songs off from Spotify.
“Like any other bands, we do not look for litigation, but when faced with a label that will not let us put our own music out ourselves for our fans and not pay us royalties owing from our own music, we felt we had no other option,” the Bad Boy Chiller Crew said in a statement to the BBC.
Jaimie Hodgson, the founder of House Anxiety, stated: “We completely deny these allegations and appreciate the chance to address these falsehoods.
“As an independent label that supports artists, we are still really proud of every aspect of Full Wack No Breaks and the effort that went into its advertising. We then stepped aside to give BBCC the opportunity to follow their aspirations of becoming a major label artist. No more comments will be made at this time.
The band’s breakout single, “450,” was featured on Full Wack No Breaks.
In 2022, the follow-up, Disrespectful, which was licensed to Sony’s Relentless label, peaked at number two in the UK album chart.
The duo appeared in their own ITV2 reality program in 2021, and that album featured the top 10 single BMW.
