Singer Qing Madi has gone public with accusations against her former label manager Joy Tongo, alleging forgery, theft and deliberate sabotage after several tracks from her new EP Barely Legal were removed from Spotify on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old addressed fans on TikTok Live, claiming Tongo took money from her, faked her signature, and was behind the takedowns of her music.
“She stole from me. She did a bunch of weird things, forging my signature. There are things I don’t want to mention here so I don’t get emotional,” Madi said. She also said Tongo sued her for $2 million and that she won the case. Because she was under 18 at the time, her mother had to appear in court with her.
The Spotify removals, Madi says, aren’t new. Her earlier single Pepper Me was taken down before. She and her team fought it, got it put back after proving the takedown was illegal, only for Barely Legal to get pulled in the same way.
“You took down Pepper Me, I said alright, bet. After we proved it was an illegal takedown, they went through the corners to take down this project,” she said. “What in the world is the problem? How are you fighting with a kid?”
Madi has raised this before. In April she posted on Instagram comparing her case to Cynthia Morgan’s, who also had a public fallout with Tongo over label issues. “My ex label, the same people that tried to destroy Cynthia Morgan, are trying to do the same to me,” she wrote then.
Tongo has denied everything. In her Instagram Stories, she rejected Madi’s version of events, called the age defense a cover for “lawlessness and lies,” and said she’ll take legal action. On the lawsuit Madi says she won, Tongo responded: “What case have you won? Because last time I checked, the case still hasn’t gotten to trial.” She also claimed the Spotify removals don’t work through a court order but through a different system.
Right now both sides are telling very different stories about what’s legal and what’s causing the streaming issues.
