In the vibrant music scene of 1991, C&C Music Factory was a name on everyone’s lips. Catapulted to fame by their electrifying single, “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” this New York-based group quickly became a sensation. Their meteoric rise was confirmed when they clinched the Billboard Award for Best New Pop Artist in 1991, triumphing over formidable contenders like Boyz II Men and EMF. Following a dynamic, choreographed medley of their chart-topping hits at the awards, the core members—co-founders Robert Clivillés and David Cole, alongside vocalists Zelma Davis and Freedom Williams—gathered to accept their accolade.
Freedom Williams, the rapper whose verses powered “Everybody Dance Now,” stood out with his shirtless appearance, his physique glistening under the stage lights. In a moment that would become somewhat iconic, Williams concluded their acceptance speech by gesturing to himself and proclaiming, “This ain’t the C&C Music Factory.” Then, pointing towards the roaring audience, he declared, “That is the C&C Music Factory!”
Twenty-six years after its initial release, “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” remains instantly recognizable. The track dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for over six months after its October 1990 debut, cementing the early 90s dance-pop movement. It joined a wave of club-ready hits from artists like La Bouche, Technotronic, and Black Box, defining the era’s sound.
With its signature staccato guitar riff and Martha Wash’s unforgettable, powerhouse vocals on the chorus “Everybody dance now!”, the song has transcended its initial popularity to become a pop culture touchstone. Today, “Everybody Dance Now” is a staple at sporting events, weddings, and has graced countless film and television soundtracks, from Space Jam to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Simpsons, and The Office. It even featured on Ellen DeGeneres’s dance music compilation in 2013 and in a 2016 Applebee’s commercial, proving its enduring appeal.
However, the narrative behind the success of “Everybody Dance Now” and C&C Music Factory is far from simple. Since the late 1990s, “Everybody Dance Now” and the very name “C&C Music Factory” have been at the center of a contentious dispute between co-founder Robert Clivillés and Freedom Williams. Williams, now in his fifties, departed from the group shortly after their Billboard Award moment to embark on a solo career.
Despite leaving in 1992, Williams controversially trademarked the C&C Music Factory name in 2005. Clivillés alleges that Williams has been performing as C&C Music Factory since the 90s, including shows across the US, Australia, and Brazil. Clivillés claims Williams is unjustly profiting by presenting himself as the central—or sole—figure of the group, despite being originally contracted as a featured performer.
In a public open letter posted on Facebook in July 2016, Clivillés addressed Williams directly, threatening legal action to reclaim the C&C Music Factory name. Clivillés questioned, “Why must you profit/steal and distort from our hard worked & earned history?” The post garnered significant attention from fans and industry figures, expressing support for Clivillés. Clivillés stated that Williams’ response was simply to block him on Facebook. Williams has consistently declined to comment on the situation when approached.
This isn’t the first time C&C Music Factory has faced controversy over artist credit. In 1991, Martha Wash, whose powerful vocals defined the hook of “Everybody Dance Now,” sued the group. This legal action arose after Zelma Davis, another vocalist in C&C Music Factory, lip-synced Wash’s parts in the music video. The case was settled out of court, with Sony Music requesting MTV to add a disclaimer acknowledging Wash’s vocal performance and Davis’s on-screen presence. Martha Wash’s fight for proper credit is considered a landmark case for artist rights in intellectual property law, setting a precedent that led to federal legislation mandating vocal credits on albums and music videos. This legislation, if in place earlier, would have ensured Wash received due credit for her iconic contribution to “Everybody Dance Now” from the outset.
The story of C&C Music Factory began in the mid-1980s when Robert Clivillés and David Cole met at the New York City nightclub Better Days, where Clivillés was DJing. Before their breakthrough with “Everybody Dance Now,” they honed their skills behind the scenes, writing and producing for established artists like Chaka Khan and Grace Jones, creating remixes, and managing various musical acts. Notably, they co-wrote and produced four tracks on Mariah Carey’s 1991 album Emotions, including the chart-topping title track.
According to Clivillés, “Everybody Dance Now” was initially intended for Trilogy, a freestyle group managed by Clivillés and Cole. When Trilogy declined the song, Clivillés and Cole decided to use it as the launchpad for their own project, C&C Music Factory. Clivillés recounted presenting an instrumental version featuring Martha Wash’s vocals to Sony/Columbia executives Tommy Mottola and Donnie Ienner in 1990. Impressed, they immediately signed the duo to a five-album deal. “Everybody Dance Now” became the lead single from their debut album, 1990’s Gonna Make You Sweat.
Clivillés explained that “C&C” represented himself and Cole, while “Music Factory” symbolized the rotating cast of vocalists they featured. “It was a group created to feature new, unknown acts, or acts that maybe had a few hit records but were not known worldwide,” Clivillés clarified. Over the years, C&C Music Factory collaborated with over a dozen singers, including Martha Wash, Deborah Cooper, Zelma Davis, members of Trilogy, and Freedom Williams.
Duran Ramos, a featured artist with C&C Music Factory, highlighted the sometimes-overlooked contributions of “The Factory,” stating, “A lot of the time, Robert would forget The Factory. It was like, ‘Dude, we’re the Factory. How does the Factory run without any workers?'”
Freedom Williams, born Frederick Williams in Brooklyn, crossed paths with Cole and Clivillés in 1989 at New York’s Quad Recording Studios, where they were engaged in various music projects. Clivillés mentioned that Williams initially worked as a janitor at the studio while studying to become an audio engineer. Clivillés helped Williams advance to an engineering assistant position at Quad. It was during this period that Cole and Clivillés first heard Williams rap.
Williams, then in his mid-twenties, possessed a distinctive baritone voice and a commanding rhythmic delivery. “I thought he had a good, deep voice for the mic,” Clivillés recalled, leading to Williams being recruited to rap on “Everybody Dance Now.” While Williams is credited as a writer on the track, Duran Ramos clarified that Clivillés penned the opening lines of the rap—”Here is the dome/back with the bass”—and Williams wrote the subsequent verses. (Discogs lists Williams with writing credits on four other tracks from Gonna Make You Sweat. Wash was credited as a backup singer on the album, not the lead vocalist). Clivillés asserted that Williams’ involvement was limited to this. “He had nothing to do with the photo or video sessions, the creation of the music, or the rest of the songs in the [C&C Music Factory] catalog,” Clivillés stated.
According to Clivillés, Williams signed a contract to be a featured artist for C&C Music Factory. This agreement, essentially a development deal, provided Williams opportunities to record and perform with C&C Music Factory and other groups managed by Cole and Clivillés, such as Seduction. Clivillés emphasized that the contract positioned Williams as one of many featured artists, not as a founder or owner of C&C Music Factory, a designation reserved solely for himself and David Cole.
Duran Ramos, who also had a similar featured artist contract, confirmed that the agreements were consistent across all featured artists. “Pretty much everyone had the exact same agreement,” he said. “We were featured artists… it was like getting hired for a part.”
Zelma Davis, a lead vocalist for C&C Music Factory, echoed this sentiment. “C&C Music Factory was always clearly David Cole and Robert Clivillés,” Davis stated. “Freedom and I were told that we were featured members of the group, not owners of the band.”
“Everybody Dance Now” propelled C&C Music Factory to global fame. The song dominated MTV and earned the group numerous accolades, including the Billboard Award. Gonna Make You Sweat produced further hits, including “Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll)” and “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm…”. In February 1992, Clivillés, Cole, Williams, and Davis appeared in a commercial with actress Susan Dey, promoting their upcoming performance as musical guests on Saturday Night Live.
However, shortly after this peak, Williams departed. Clivillés recounted that in 1992, Williams requested to be released from his contract to pursue a solo career. “We featured him on C&C Music Factory to establish him as an artist, so he could then take it solo,” Clivillés explained. “The group blew up so fast that by the third single, he was like, ‘Yo, I’m good. I’m out.'” Clivillés and Cole agreed, proceeding to record their second album, Anything Goes!, without Williams. While the album produced some hits, none matched the overwhelming success of “Gonna Make You Sweat.” Tragedy struck in 1995 when David Cole passed away from spinal meningitis at the age of 32. After releasing one final album, 1995’s C+C Music Factory, Clivillés disbanded the group.
Williams’ solo album, Freedom, released in 1993, achieved modest chart success, with its lead single, “Voice of Freedom,” reaching number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains his only solo album. Williams also ventured into acting, appearing in a 1996 episode of The Red Shoe Diaries before largely fading from public view. In a 2014 video interview, he mentioned working in construction to earn a living.
In the late 1990s, Clivillés learned that Williams was performing solo shows as C&C Music Factory, despite his departure years prior. Clivillés initially requested Williams to bill himself as “Freedom Williams formerly of C&C Music Factory,” which Williams reportedly did for a period. However, Clivillés noticed Williams increasingly presenting himself simply as C&C Music Factory. Then, in 2005, without Clivillés’s knowledge, Williams legally trademarked “C&C Music Factory” under his name, Frederick Williams. In 2015, he trademarked the name again under his company, Freedom Williams Entertainment LLC.
According to intellectual property lawyer Shirin Chahal, Williams was able to secure the trademark due to his continued performances under the C&C Music Factory name in the late 90s and early 2000s. “If Williams was touring nationally and his music under the C&C Music Factory name was getting nationwide play—radio, clubs, wherever—he would have a great position that he established common law trademark rights,” Chahal explained.
In 2016 alone, Williams performed at least eleven shows as C&C Music Factory. Promotional materials vary, sometimes listing him as “Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory” or “C+C Music Factory Feat: Freedom Williams.” One flyer even described him as “Freedom Williams, the original frontman, face and voice of C&C Music Factory,” with the “original frontman, face and voice” tagline written in very small print. Some simply state “C+C Music Factory.” Williams frequently performs at venues alongside other 90s nostalgia acts, delivering energetic shows, although some have been described as somewhat disjointed. When performing “Everybody Dance Now,” he typically uses a female vocalist to cover Martha Wash’s iconic hook. Clivillés estimates Williams earns between $5,000 and $10,000 per booking.
“[Williams] is profiting from the name,” Clivillés argues, pointing out that the name “C&C Music Factory” was never trademarked in the 90s. “He’s intentionally telling people that he’s the actual creator of the group… It’s time that something is done about it.”
Duran Ramos believes Williams’ actions are driven by more than just financial gain. According to Ramos, tensions existed between Williams and Clivillés in the 90s, with Clivillés often reminding Williams of his dependence on C&C Music Factory.
“Freedom has strong disdain for Robert,” Ramos stated. “He would tell you that Robert is controlling, manipulative—that Robert thinks he’s the man and didn’t see how everyone else made it happen, which I would agree with. A lot of the time, Robert would forget The Factory.”
Clivillés offers a different perspective. “The only disagreement I ever had with Freedom was that he wasn’t humble when the success came to him,” he said. “He immediately thought he was the man, and that cost him his career overnight.”
Ramos believes Williams’ current actions are motivated by a desire for revenge against Clivillés, alongside financial gain. “It’s revenge,” Ramos asserted. “Absolutely.”
Ramos ultimately sides with Clivillés, stating, “By taking the name of C&C Music Factory, [Williams] is taking bread from the table of people that were a part of it, like Trilogy, Zelma, Deborah Cooper and so many others. He’s performing songs like ‘Do You Wanna Get Funky?,’ which he had nothing to do with. That was a song I wrote, and he’s doing my rap.”
“I think it’s very arrogant, what Freedom is doing,” Ramos concluded. “He’ll say Robert is arrogant, but what he’s doing [by performing as C&C Music Factory] is the same way.”
In June 2016, Williams performed “Everybody Dance Now” on a Brazilian TV program. During the show, Williams claimed to have written the song for a group he produced, and that he was homeless at the time of its creation—a narrative disputed by Ramos and Clivillés. “He’s really talking about me, which is weird,” said Ramos, who himself experienced periods of homelessness in the late 80s. “You’ve gotta be a little nuts to position yourself that way.”
While Williams declined to comment directly for the original article, he seemingly addressed the accusations on Instagram shortly after Clivillés’ open letter. Amongst his posts, he shared a text image stating, “One of the most annoying things you could do is get into an argument on social media with a person who makes no sense and watch people agree with them.”
Although Clivillés and Williams remain estranged, Ramos attempted to mediate between them in connection with a potential TV show about C&C Music Factory, which ultimately did not materialize. Clivillés has since requested original contracts from Sony and is consulting with lawyers to pursue legal action. According to Shirin Chahal, Clivillés’ legal options to challenge the trademark are limited due to the time elapsed since its registration, likely necessitating a trademark infringement lawsuit.
Despite the global fame C&C Music Factory achieved decades ago, the dispute over the name and legacy continues. The courts may ultimately decide who has the right to perform under the C&C Music Factory banner and relive those past successes. Regardless of the legal outcome, this situation highlights the often-complex realities behind iconic pop songs, revealing the battles for credit and recognition that can persist long after the spotlight fades.
