South African pop sensation Tyla and her producer, Sammy SoSo Awuku, are facing a lawsuit over royalty disagreements tied to their global hit single, Water. Filed in California, the lawsuit was brought by songwriters Olmo Zucca and Jackson LoMastro, who claim they were underpaid for their contributions to the song.
Zucca and LoMastro allege they co-wrote and co-produced Water and are therefore entitled to 12.5% of the publishing royalties each. However, according to the complaint, they only received 10%—a decision they say was unilaterally made by Awuku, who allegedly took a larger 15% share for himself.
Also named in the lawsuit is Epic Records, the label responsible for distributing the track. The plaintiffs assert that their attempts to resolve the dispute with Awuku in July 2023, prior to the song’s release, were unsuccessful due to his refusal to negotiate.
Court documents state that a recording session in Los Angeles between March 8 and 9, 2023, involved all four producers—Zucca, LoMastro, Awuku, and another collaborator, Goufar. Zucca and LoMastro reportedly created and shared audio files during the session, which were used in the final version of the track.
The lawsuit argues that all four producers contributed equally and should have been credited and compensated accordingly. Instead, Awuku is accused of unfairly distributing the publishing rights: taking 15% for himself, 10% each to Zucca, LoMastro, and Goufar, and giving 5% to Christopher Alan “Tricky” Stewart.
Water has become a defining track for Tyla, earning her a Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance, as well as accolades from the VMAs, EMAs, BET, and AMAs. The song made history as the first by a female African lead artist to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify and has also garnered over 300 million views on YouTube.
