*West Coast rapper and producer Daz Dillinger went to court seeking money he says he is owed for his work with Tupac Shakur, but the dispute has taken a sharp turn: Amaru Entertainment now alleges Daz kept a Tupac master recording, at least 40 original studio reels, handwritten lyrics, and other property belonging to the estate.
The allegations dramatically expand a fight that began with Daz demanding an accounting of royalties connected to more than a dozen Tupac recordings. Amaru denies he is entitled to additional payments and claims he may instead owe the company money.
In its response to Daz’s lawsuit, Amaru alleges the producer retained or transferred Tupac materials worth more than $1 million, AllHipHop reports.
A $91,445 Check is Now Part of the Fight
Daz’s royalty dispute stretches back to an October 2024 demand that ultimately led Amaru to send him a check for $91,445.27. The estate did not provide a complete accounting explaining how it reached that figure.
“Amaru admits that it paid [Daz] $91,445.27 after October 18, 2024, and that it did not provide royalty statements or other underlying documentation in connection with the payment,” the filing states.
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Daz wants Amaru to disclose how much the disputed songs have generated and pay whatever additional share he contends he is owed. His claims involve more than a dozen recordings, including “Ambitionz Az a Ridah,” “Skandalouz,” “Got My Mind Made Up” and “I Ain’t Mad at Cha.”
Amaru now argues that Death Row-era agreements governed Daz’s compensation and that he had no right to the $91,445.27 payment.
“[Daz] knew that he was not entitled to the payments alleged herein when he demanded and accepted them,” the filing alleges. “Asking [Daz] to return that money would be futile. [Daz] now owes some or all of that money to Amaru.”
Amaru Says Daz Kept a Tupac Archive
The estate’s response goes well beyond royalty accounting.
Amaru alleges Daz admitted possessing “at least one Tupac Shakur master recording,” at least 40 original reels containing Tupac performances, walls of lyrics handwritten by Tupac and other materials the company claims it owns.
The estate further alleges Daz sold some of the items to other people and claims its losses exceed $1 million.
Those assertions remain allegations in an ongoing legal dispute. The filing, as reported by AllHipHop, does not establish that Daz stole the materials or that Amaru is legally entitled to the damages it seeks.
That distinction is important because the estate’s accusations have transformed what began as a royalty fight into a broader dispute over ownership of potentially valuable pieces of Tupac’s recording history.
Daz Helped Shape ‘All Eyez on Me’
Daz’s connection to Tupac’s catalog is substantial. He produced five songs for Tupac’s 1996 album “All Eyez on Me,” including the beats for “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” and “Ambitionz Az a Ridah.” He also rapped on “Got My Mind Made Up.”
Their work together extended to “Life’s So Hard,” released on the “Gang Related” soundtrack, and “Homeboyz,” which was later released on “Still I Rise.”
That history gives the lawsuit another layer. Daz isn’t an outsider making a claim against Tupac’s catalog; he was a contributor to some of its best-known recordings. Now the two sides disagree over both compensation for that work and ownership of physical materials connected to Tupac.
A Jury Could Decide Who Owes Whom
Amaru has requested a jury trial, leaving the competing claims unresolved.
Daz wants an accounting showing what the songs have earned and payment of any remaining royalties he believes are due. Amaru says the old Death Row arrangements undermine that claim and argues Daz should return some or all of the $91,445.27 he already received.
The estate’s allegations over the master, studio reels and handwritten lyrics have raised the financial stakes even further.
What began as Daz asking where his Tupac money went has therefore become a much larger question: Who owns valuable pieces of the late rapper’s musical archive, and which side — if either — owes the other?
Until a court resolves those competing claims or the parties reach another resolution, the $91,445 check, the royalty accounting and the alleged million-dollar archive remain at the center of the fight.
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