South African pop star Tyla is facing a lawsuit from two U.S.-based songwriters who claim they were unfairly left out of the production credits and profits for her Grammy-winning hit ‘Water’.
The legal action, filed on Friday, July 25, names Tyla (real name Tyla Seethal), British producer Sammy SoSo (Samuel Awuku), and Sony Music Entertainment, the parent company of Epic Records, Tyla’s label.
The plaintiffs, Olmo Zucca and Jackson LoMastro, allege that they co-produced the chart-topping song during a March 2023 studio session in Los Angeles but were deliberately excluded from credit and compensation
Water, which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023, earned Tyla her first Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance and has reportedly generated over $10 million in revenue so far.
In the lawsuit, Zucca and LoMastro are demanding official producer credits, a retroactive and future producer fee, and a royalty share of 12.5% each. They claim that producer Sammy SoSo misled them into signing an unfavourable royalty agreement and failed to disclose their involvement to the record label. According to the lawsuit, SoSo allegedly kept 15% of publishing royalties for himself while limiting Zucca and LoMastro to 10% each, without offering them any producer recognition or payment.
“Because defendants have refused to recognize plaintiffs’ status as topline producers of the song, and have failed to pay plaintiffs all of the royalties they are owed from the song, plaintiffs have each suffered injury in fact,” the lawsuit reads.
The pair previously filed a similar complaint in March 2025 but voluntarily withdrew it on July 24 before refiling it the next day with new legal representation.
