The lights will go up on NBA YoungBoy’s biggest career milestone yet the 32-date MASA Tour, kicking off September 1, 2025, in Dallas. For fans, it’s a long-awaited moment the Baton Rouge rapper’s first headlining arena run, complete with high-energy sets, special guests, and, of course, exclusive tour merchandise. But behind the scenes, a federal lawsuit threatens to overshadow the celebration, pitting the rapper real name Kentrell DeSean Gaulden against a former business partner in a dispute over $1 million, broken promises, and the lucrative world of artist merch.
In 2023, Westside Merchandising LLC, a U.S.-based retail and apparel company, struck what seemed like a golden deal: exclusive rights to design, produce, and sell Gaulden’s Never Broke Again merchandise both online and at live shows. The price tag for that exclusivity? A $1 million advance, plus a contractual commitment from the rapper to promote the merch, especially on social media.
Instead, as per Westside’s filing with the District Court for the Central District of California on August 8, 2025 (Case No. 2:25-cv-07415), no promotion actually ever occurred at all. The complaint claims that even after YoungBoy was released from prison in July of this year, he went almost a complete year (from 2023–2025) without posting about or promoting the-merch.
Westside’s lawsuit claims the situation worsened in May 2025 when the rapper sent them a termination letter citing “poor performance” just before announcing the MASA Tour. The company alleges this was a pretext to secure a new advance from another merch partner and cut them out of a major revenue stream.
“Tour merch can easily rival ticket sales in profitability,”
one industry insider told Billboard in a separate report.
“Losing those rights just before a 32-date arena run is a huge financial hit.”
Merchandise licensing is big money in the music industry. Artists often rely on it as a parallel revenue stream to ticket sales, with exclusive designs sold both online and at shows. Disputes aren’t new from Taylor Swift’s battle with counterfeit merch sellers to Kanye West’s high-profile licensing shifts, the stakes are always high.
Westside is now seeking both financial damages and a court order confirming their exclusive rights for the MASA Tour, which includes major U.S. stops in Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta. They also accuse YoungBoy of damaging their business by allegedly disparaging a potential retail partner, Pure Atlanta, on Instagram, calling its founder “unprofessional and clout chasing.”
A tweet from X.
Timing of the lawsuit just weeks before the tour begins has fueled online speculation. Supporters argue YoungBoy, who’s also preparing to release his joint project Deshawn with DJ Khaled, should be free to choose his partners. Critics counter that the $1 million advance was a binding commitment that must be honored.
On social media, reactions have been mixed. One fan on X wrote:
“If Westside wasn’t doing their job, YB shouldn’t be locked in with them.”
Another countered:
“A deal’s a deal $1 million isn’t just pocket change.”
As of this writing, YoungBoy and his representatives have not issued any public statement on the matter.
