DDG is facing a New York lawsuit alleging that he not only underpaid for “Pink Dreads” but also lit the fuse on a wave of threats by discussing the dispute online.
Producers Delali “D1xoo DA” Amenyenu and Jordan “5kjordn11” Church are credited in the complaint with creating the beat in October 2024 and then sending it to DDG’s team in December 2024.
The producers thought they would receive credit and payment if it became a record. However, “Pink Dreads,” featuring Plaqueboy Max, was released on December 24, 2024, before any final agreement with D1xoo DA had been reached.
It was eventually released through DDG Entertainment and Zooted and climbed to approximately 40 million streams and “significant six-figure” revenue. Music L.A.A., Inc. (LAA Music) later acquired a portion of D1xoo DA’s interest in the beat and now asserts that it has not been paid and has not received an accounting of the revenue generated by the record.
The suit goes beyond money and accuses DDG of defamation, breach of an implied agreement, unjust enrichment, and refusal to open the books regarding “Pink Dreads” income.
The beef really exploded into the public on January 28, 2025.
That day, DDG ran a nearly 30-minute Twitch stream, later posted to his DDG Live YouTube channel under the title “pink dreads got deleted.. Im being extorted,” in which he discussed LAA Music and its founder, Zachary Hiller, while their Instagram pages were on screen.
Hiller’s lawyer said DDG turned a business dispute into content and a warning shot.
“All producers, do not sign to LAA Sports ENT. Dont do it. They are going to ruin your business. Do not do it. This is a PSA for all producers. Do not sign. All producers. Do not sign to these people, ever in your life. They will ruin you. Do not sign. Ok? Do not sign to them. They will ruin your business,” DDG said during the stream.
At another point, he allegedly said, “Theyve literally been trying to extort me all day long bro,” and, about Hiller, “you got this white man coming in here and thinking he can extort s### for it?”
Clips then bounced around TikTok and Instagram, where plaintiffs estimate they collected more than 100 million views as users repeated the idea that LAA and Hiller were trying to “extort” DDG.
DDG pushed the story on X as well.
“Pink Dreads got removed by one of the producers managers. Song is dead at this point im over it. They careers finna be cooked by the time im done with em,” he wrote.
The complaint notes that he pinned the post for his 1.3 million followers.
According to LAA Music and Hiller, they were buried under more than 10,000 comments, including antisemitic slurs and messages like “Find his girlfriend or parents Instagrams. We going crazy on this dude.”
LAA Music and Hiller are asking a jury to find that DDG’s statements were false and defamatory, to order the videos and posts removed and to award compensatory and punitive damages tied to lost royalties, business harm, and emotional distress.
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