The St. Lunatics were allegedly "threatened" to sign with Universal alongside Nelly rather than take their talents to a different label than the group's frontman, according to Murphy Lee.
The "Shake Ya Tailfeather" rapper sat down with VLAD TV earlier this week where he recalled the process of inking a deal at Universal which the St. Louis group's standout star Nelly called home after taking advice from his lawyers.
"That was a major lil moment for us. Probably should've held out for a second and shopped it," the Lee began. "We wasn't tied into that. I think we got threatened with, 'You might not be able to get Nelly cleared if y'all go somewhere else' type of thing.
"I don't think they thugged us out. I think it was a natural thing. It was more so with lawyers. I think they was thinking like that. Because the lawyers represented us and Nelly and it was more so like when he was shopping the deal."
Murphy Lee then elaborated on how the group were allegedly told they might have had clearance issues with Nelly's vocals had they signed elsewhere, but he still believes they should've held out for more money and shopped Universal's offer to drive the price up.
"It was like a suggestion, like, 'Yeah, we can go somewhere else, like at the same time, y'all might not be able to clear it because he's so big,'" Lee continued. "We probably should've made more a demand for two seconds we went right into it we were so happy."
St. Lunatics released just one studio album under Universal, 2001's Free City, which is certified platinum and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
As for Murphy Lee, the 44-year-old rapper went on to release his solo debut, Murphy's Law, in September 2003.
The project includes features from Diddy, Lil Wayne, Lil Jon, Jermaine Dupri and more. Murphy's Law went gold and debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. Shortly after, Lee left Universal and launched his own record label with UCME Entertainment.
Meanwhile, in other related news, Nelly and Ashanti are said to be "very happy" after the pair rekindled their previous romance following their initial split back in 2013.
After sparking romance rumors, a source confirmed to Entertainment Tonight in May that the former couple had repaired their relationship and are happier than ever.
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