Lola Young is taking legal action against the co-producer of ‘Messy’ over his claims for songwriting credits on some of her songs.
The BBC has reported that the singer-songwriter has filed an intellectual property claim against Carter Lang following his assertion that he should have credits on four of her songs, a claim that Young “strongly refutes”.
Lang is known for his production work with artists such as SZA, Post Malone, Doja Cat and Lil Nas X, and he was one of the producers on ‘Messy’, the viral breakout hit that sent Young to the top of the UK Singles Chart earlier this year.
The case was reportedly filed in London on behalf of Young and Sony Music Publishing on Wednesday (October 1), with Young’s lawyers stating: “It is with immense disappointment, especially given recent events, that we have no choice but to respond to recent writing credit claims from Carter Lang on four Lola Young songs by issuing legal proceedings on her behalf.”
“Carter’s claims are strongly refuted and we will not allow Lola’s reputation and integrity to be called into question – particularly so long after the sessions took place and agreements were put in place.”
The statement continued: “Lola has always been authentic in her songwriting process and acknowledges songwriting contributions where appropriate. This dispute has been ongoing for several months and we look forward to the truth being established.”
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The four songs in question have not been named and neither Young nor Lang have publicly commented on the matter.
The musician spoke to NME about the background of ‘Messy’, which ranked as one of the biggest songs of 2025 so far, when she received the Rising Star Award at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards in May.
“I just wrote it from a really personal place and it can sometimes be re-triggering hearing that song because it was so intense,” she told us at the awards ceremony. “I’m out of that place now, out of that difficult time in my life.”
“I think it’s just a relatable song. A lot of people don’t feel like they’re enough for somebody; they don’t feel like they’ll ever win.”
The new legal case comes just days after Young said she was “going away” to take a break from her commitments “for the foreseeable future”. The singer collapsed on stage at All Things Go in New York City on September 27 and was carried off stage by a medical team, and subsequently cancelled her upcoming UK tour this autumn.
“I’m going away for a while,” she wrote. “It pains me to say I have to cancel everything for the foreseeable future. Thank you all for the love and support. I’m so sorry to let anyone down who has bought a ticket to see me, it hurts me more than you know. Obviously you will be entitled to a full refund.
“I really hope you’ll give me a second chance once I’ve had some time to work on myself and come back stronger.”
Young dropped her second album ‘I’m Only Fucking Myself’, last month. It scored a three star review from NME, with El Hunt writing that despite feeling “a little all over the place”, Young had put many “surprising spins on pop into one record […] largely pulling it off”.
“One of the more interesting new names breaking out right now, Young proves that there’s far more to her repertoire than ‘Messy’, and though it occasionally lacks focus as an album, it also tees up plenty of excitement for whatever’s next.”
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