Cardi B has won a court order throwing out a lawsuit that claimed her hit 2024 single “Enough (Miami)” copied an earlier track called “Greasy Frybread.”
A Texas federal judge ruled on Monday (March 30) that there are fatal deficiencies in the litigation brought two years ago by Joshua Fraustro and Miguel Aguilar, who produced “Greasy Frybread” for rapper Sten Joddi. The duo alleges Cardi (Belcalis Almanzar) lifted the song’s melody and bassline for “Enough (Miami),” which hit No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 14 weeks.
As is typical in these sorts of song-theft cases, Fraustro and Aguilar initially sued Cardi for federal copyright infringement. But they dropped those allegations after Cardi’s lawyers pointed out that “Greasy Frybread” was not actually registered with the U.S. Copyright Office; they later retooled the lawsuit with a series of related claims under Texas state law.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. said Monday that these state-law claims fail because Cardi does not have any significant ties to Texas. Fraustro and Aguilar argued that she did business in the state via live shows there, but the judge was not swayed.
“Plaintiffs do not demonstrate that Almanzar targeted Texas for concert performances, rather than simply including Texas venues within a broader concert tour in numerous states,” wrote Judge Rodriguez. “Almanzar’s performances in Texas are not distinct from her performances in those other states, rendering the concerts in Texas insufficient to establish general jurisdiction.”
Judge Rodriguez said he would have tossed the lawsuit even without these jurisdictional issues. He ruled that each part of Fraustro and Aguilar’s lawsuit was missing key pleading elements — writing, for example, that their claim for business interference contained “no factual support.”
Fraustro and Aguilar had also brought claims for third-party copyright infringement against Cardi’s label, Atlantic Records, and its parent company, Warner Music Group (WMG). The judge disposed of these as well on Monday, saying the duo’s failure to register a copyright “renders the claims defective.”
Cardi’s lawyer declined to comment on the decision on Monday. Fraustro and Aguilar’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment, nor did a rep for WMG.
“Enough (Miami)” was recently re-released on a deluxe version of Cardi’s sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in October. The song is on the setlist for her ongoing Little Miss Drama arena tour.
