Drake Sued For $10 Million After Sampling Lyrics Without Permission
Drake’s music is getting him into legal trouble once again, as the rapper is facing a new lawsuit after using a voice sample without the proper permissions on the track “Calling My Name.” The song was released along with Drake’s album Honestly, Nevermind in 2022, which was his seventh studio album. However, it’s only causing controversy now.
Obrafour, a rapper from Ghana, filed the copyright infringement lawsuit, claiming Drake sampled vocals from his song "Oye Ohene,” where he says, "Killer cut, blood, killer cut.”
According to court documents, someone from Drake’s team reached out to Obrafour via email last June to inquire about using a sample from his music. However, Obrafour says he never replied to the original message, nor did he respond to subsequent follow-ups.
Despite allegedly not having Obrafour’s permission to use the sample, Drake went on to release the album the same month featuring the track with Obrafour’s vocals.
"This lack of alteration to the audio of the sampled phrase heard in the infringing work is notable to the extent that is generally atypical for a song to sample another without at least some audible manipulation, processing or other alteration to the basic character speed and/or pitch of the sample audio," Obrafour’s complaint argues.
Obrafour is seeking a jury trial and hopes to win $10 million in damages. So far, Drake hasn’t publicly responded to the allegations.
Drake is no stranger to lawsuits. He recently settled a case with 21 Savage in February after the rappers were sued by Conde Nast for using a fake Vogue cover to promote their joint album Her Loss, which debuted in November 2022.
Conde Nast, the publisher behind Vogue, subsequently filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the entertainers for not having the proper permission to use Vogue’s name to promote their album.
“Vogue magazine and its Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour have had no involvement in Her Loss or its promotion, and have not endorsed it in any way,” Conde Nast said in a statement.
“Nor did Condé Nast authorize, much less support, the creation and widespread dissemination of a counterfeit issue of Vogue, or a counterfeit version of perhaps one of the most carefully curated covers in all of the publication business,” it continued.
Not only did a judge agree to an injunction, which stopped Drake and 21 Savage from using Vogue to promote their album any further, but they also reached a undisclosed settlement outside of court.
Sources: Billboard, XXL Magazine,
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