South African pop star Tyla and producer Sammy SoSo (real name Samuel Awuku) are being sued by two California-based songwriters over credit and royalty rights to her breakout hit Water.

The collaborators, Olmo Zucca and Jackson LoMastro, both based in California, are also suing Sony Music Entertainment.

“This lawsuit arises from Awuku’s improper and unlawful efforts to take sole credit for production of [Water] and to deprive Zucca and LoMastro] of top-line producer credit and royalties to which they are entitled,” reads the 25 July filing.

Zucca and LoMastro argue that this refusal to give credit has resulted in harm to their reputations and careers and cost them opportunities.

The 2023 song currently has more than 1.1 billion streams on Spotify and more than 330 million views on YouTube. The song has also received several awards, most notably the inaugural Grammy for Best African Music Performance.

The plaintiffs made the same allegations in a previous lawsuit in March, but they dropped the case on 24 July and refiled it a day later in California, with a new attorney, according to Billboard.

In the suit, Zucca and LoMastro are named “co-composers and co-authors,” as well as two of the “top-line producers” (who focus on melodies, harmonies, and lyrics).

The plaintiffs say that during the March 2023 recording session for Water, four producers were present: Zucca, LoMastro, Awuku and Rayan El-Hussein Goufar (Rayo).

Zucca and LoMastro produced numerous audio files that were used in the final master recording for Water, which were transferred to Awuku’s computer.

“Because all four producers contributed equally to the production of the song, each should be receiving full top-line producer credit and an equal percentage of royalties.”

The filing continues:

“In violation of plaintiffs’ rights, Awuku has taken sole credit for the entire production of the song, negotiated and entered into a producer agreement directly with [Tyla] Seethal, failed to tell plaintiffs (or Goufar) about it, and failed to cut plaintiffs in on equal terms.”

The plaintiffs apparently tried for months to resolve the matter with Awuku, but he “adamantly refused to negotiate.”

The plaintiffs want the court to declare that, among other things, Zucca and LoMastro are top-line producers entitled to full credit.

They are also seeking prospective and retroactive royalties, including a 12.5% share of the publishing royalties.