DMX Estate Fighting Legal Dispute With Late Rapper’s Friend Over Songs on Decades-Old Tapes

Six years after DMX ’s death, his estate is quietly battling with a longtime friend and collaborator — over both unreleased recordings and his claim to be a co-writer of DMX’s breakout hit.

DJ Superior (Michael Murray), DMX’s friend from his early days in Yonkers, says he owns many items tied to the star, including VHS videos, handwritten lyric sheets and cassette tapes of never-released tracks.

He tried to auction some of them last year, and now he wants to release music he says he co-owns.

Related The Beatles’ ‘First Known’ Recording Sparks Legal Battle With UMG: ‘A Highly Valuable Artifact’ Dale Morris, Nashville Manager Who Guided Careers of Alabama & Kenny Chesney, Dies at 89 HYBE Pledges Over $300k for Colombia Earthquake Recovery But in a series of cease-and-desist letters over the past year, obtained by Billboard , attorneys for the DMX estate’s executors have said that’s very much a no-go.

They say the physical items actually belong to the estate, and that a streaming release of the music would be grounds for a copyright lawsuit.

“The estate will seek all available relief against Mr.

Murray and all others acting in concert with him in connection with this release and any and all other releases of DMX’s work that the estate has not authorized,” lawyers for the DMX estate wrote in a June letter.

In a statement to Billboard , estate manager Ashley Austin reiterated those warnings, saying they had made “substantial good faith efforts” to find a resolution to the dispute but that Superior has been “unreasonable” and that the estate is tasked with “protecting DMX’s legacy.” “Let us be crystal clear: any unreleased DMX material cannot be commercially distributed, published, released or licensed without the estate’s consent,” Austin said.

“Mr.

Murray and any other party attempting to exploit such material risks legal action.” Superior’s manager, Jonah Levine , tells Billboard they’re still eager to reach a deal with the estate to release the music, calling it “a piece of history” that ought to be heard by fans: “Our ultimate goal is not to make money, is not peddling our wares.

Our goal is to allow Superior’s work to be put out in public.” DMX (Earl Simmons) soared to stardom in the 1990s with Billboard Hot 100 hits “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” “Party Up (Up In Here)” and “What These Bitches Want.” Known for his unusual flow and aggressive delivery, he’s one of the most influential MCs in hip-hop history.

He placed 16 different tracks in the Hot 100, and was the first-ever artist to have their first five albums debut atop the Billboard 200 .

Superior says he was there for much of DMX’s rise in the late 1980s and early 1990s, recording “street tapes” with the future star in his Yonkers apartment that they would then sell from the trunks of cars.