Legendary Rapper MC Lyte Remains Owner of Her Music Catalog in Divorce Settlement

MC Lyte has many things to be thankful for this year, one being that she is legally a free woman.

News outlets are reporting that the rapper’s divorce from entrepreneur John Wyche is officially finalized. In a list of things MC Lyte can keep, she will remain the rightful owner of her music catalog and its royalties, which goes back to the late 1980s.

In February 2022, MC Lyte opened up about her struggles after undergoing a public divorce. During an episode of The Real, the rap veteran shared that in the beginning, she was incredibly distraught by the entire process. 

She said, “I think in the very beginning, I was very distraught. I feel like there are phases whenever a relationship is ending, whether you’re married or not. It’s that first phase of, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to make this work for us. Then it’s like, Oh my God, I’ve got to make this work for everybody else involved.’“

Later in the conversation, MC Lyte disclosed that she knew immediately after exchanging vows with Wyche in 2017 that the union wouldn’t last despite her all of her efforts. 

“You get to a point where you’re like, this isn’t working. It doesn’t matter. What really matters is that we end up in a happy place. It’s hard in the beginning, but you realize to have happiness doesn’t mean you have to remain together, and it doesn’t mean that you are a failure because the marriage failed. It’s all ego. You just have to be able to let go.”

MC Lyte, who met Wyche on the dating website Match.com, filed for divorce in 2020, citing irreconcilable differences. 

According to The Blast, MC Lyte’s marriage to Wyche was brief. Court documents obtained by the publication state the “Paper Thin” lyricist separated from Wyche in January 2018, almost five months after they tied the knot in Jamaica in August 2017.

The legal docs also mention details about the pair’s prenuptial agreement. In it, MC Lyte and Wyche didn’t ask for spousal support, and the 52-year-old will be able to keep her belongings and the earnings she made throughout the duo’s short-lived union.

According to the court documents stated, “MC Lyte keeps her clothing, jewelry, watches, and personal effects in her possession, custody, or control, and earnings and accumulations before the date of marriage, during the marriage, and post-separation, her Subaru, financial accounts in her name, all furniture, furnishings, and other personal property in her possession, custody, or control. She also gets to keep her term life insurance policy.”