Bruno Mars, Lil Wayne Song Up For Legal Battle, Producer Says He Was Not Paid

The success of “Mirror on the Wall”, the R&B single by Bruno Mars and Lil Wayne, is being overshadowed by a legal challenge being pursued by the song’s producer.

TMZ has reported that producer Ramon “Reo” Owen of SoundKillers has filed a suit against Lil Wayne’s record labels, Young Money Entertainment, and Cash Money Records for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and accounting.

The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in Manhattan, claims that Ramon was not paid royalties for his work on the hit song. The tune went to number one on the Billboard Music Charts.

According to MTV News, Young Money agreed to pay Soundkillers 3 percent of royalties from the song, and 3.5 percent if Tha Carter IV, the album on which the song was recorded, sold more than 500,000 copies, and 4 percent royalties if the album sold more than a million copies.

Tha Carter IV, which is the ninth studio album by Lil Wayne, was heavily delayed, due to the fact that the controversial rapper was serving a prison sentence at Rikers Island prison for illegal possession of a weapon. The Inquisitr reported that the album was recorded after his release from prison.

“Mirror,” the song which is in dispute, is the sixth single from the album featuring Bruno Mars, which is a bonus track on the deluxe edition. It was released to urban radio on September 13, 2011. It was sent to rhythmic radio and re-released to urban radio on November 1, 2011. Upon the release, it debuted at number sixteen on the U.S. Hot 100 based on digital downloads alone.

Ramon told MTV News in an interview that the song almost didn’t see the light of day.

“Kanye heard it, Drake heard it, and it already had the Bruno hook. Basically, Nas had it for a while, and it just ended up in the hands of Wayne and he loved it… It’s to the point that they record so many songs over the time period that they’re making the album, so you just hope to God that your song resonates with everybody that has to yes it.”

Interestingly enough, many online reports have credited Bruno Mars’ production outfit, the Smeezingtons, with production on the track, but Ramon has insisted he produced the song.

Among the court documents is a royalty statement which was delivered to SoundKillers. The document indicated that Young Money owed the production company $91,000.

Bruno Mars has not been implicated in the lawsuit.

[Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images]