KINGSTON, Jamaica – Two-time Grammy-nominated reggae artiste, Etana, has indicated that she has no interest in working with established Jamaican-owned record label VP Records, with whom she is embroiled in a multi-million dollar lawsuit over alleged breach of contract and copyright infringement.

Etana, whose birth name is Shauna McKenzie, gave the clear indication in a post to social media Thursday in which she shared a screenshot of an email from VP’s artists and repertoire (A&R) representative, Richard ‘Shams’ Browne, inviting the Wrong Address singer to record a single for an upcoming Christmas project the label is working on.

In the post to her official Instagram page, Etana likened the action by Browne to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade when Africans sold their own to the white slave masters.

“Shams for the record, I am still in federal court with VP. My fight with them is not in the past. We are still in court… You should reconsider working for a company that claims they own reggae music when there are so many great producers in Jamaica including your father,” she said.

In the email requesting Etana’s involvement in the project, Browne, an established producer, acknowledged “issues” between the singer and VP Records, but indicated “nothing tried, nothing done.”

Following Etana’s response, Browne took to the comments section under the ‘Strong One’s’ post and sought to clarify that he acted independently in his request. He went on to state that he loves and respects the entertainer’s talent and that he never expected her to react the way she did.

“For the record, no one at VP was aware that I had contacted you to do this project. I acted on my own accord. We (the A&Rs at VP) will approach any artist who we feel will do a great job for any project we are working on. There’s never usually any directive from the head of the company,” his comment read. “It’s all good though. I’ll take this one for the team. Still love and respect your talent and artistry. Never expected this kind of negative energy from ‘the strong one’ though.”

In January 2022, Etana filed a lawsuit against New York-based VP – which distributed four albums for Etana, starting with ‘The Strong One’ in 2008 and ending with ‘I Rise’ in 2014 – citing several royalty-related claims.

Her representative, Miami Entertainment Law Group issued a statement at the time that read in part: “Despite all the commercial success enjoyed by McKenzie, to date the defendants have not provided a formal accounting and they have not properly paid plaintiffs the royalties and the other income due to the plaintiffs under their agreements including but not limited to artiste royalties, mechanical royalties, public performance royalties, profits from the sale of merchandise and for any licensing fees.”

However, in December 2022, a New York judged dismissed nine of Etana’s 14 claims. The singer filed an amended lawsuit in January seeking more than US$10 million in damages.