For two years, Belcalis “Cardi B” Almánzar was in a legal fight with her former manager Kleonard “Shaft” Raphael over the Grammy winner’s early songs and financial success. The KSR Records founder filed a $10 million lawsuit against Cardi, and she fired back with a $30 million counterclaim.
AllHipHop.com broke the news that both lawsuits have come to an end. Legal documents reveal all claims and counterclaims are “dismissed in its entirety with prejudice against all parties.” That means neither Raphael nor Almánzar can refile a case based on the same grounds.
On Sunday afternoon, Cardi B reacted to the news of the dismissal spreading across Twitter and other social media platforms. In a quote-tweet, the Invasion of Privacy album creator simply posted, “Feels good to be free.”
https://twitter.com/iamcardib/status/1343296743073599493?s=20
There has been widespread speculation that Cardi has not released her highly-anticipated sophomore album because of the then-pending legal situation with Raphael and a possible contract dispute with Atlantic Records. However, she has expressed the delay has more to do with her creative process than contractual conflicts.
In August, Cardi B dropped her latest lead single “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion. The track debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the inaugural Billboard Global 200 chart with record-breaking streaming numbers. “WAP” was named the “Best Song of 2020” by Genius, NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and other music media outlets.
