Kanye West, a rapper, producer, and businessman who legally changed his name to Ye last year, was accused of illegally sampling a song by Marshall Jefferson on Wednesday.
From West’s album Donda 2, the song “Flowers,” which features a sample from Move Your Body by Jefferson from 1986, according to Ultra International Music Publishing LLC, is repeated at least 22 times.
West’s label Universal Music Group (UMG.AS), which is not a party to the lawsuit, as well as a representative for West did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company that owns the rights to Jefferson’s song, Ultra International, through an attorney, stated that it had no further comment and thought the lawsuit spoke for itself.
Chicago-born Jefferson is credited with creating house music. West is his hometown. In discussions with Jefferson, it was acknowledged by West and his agents, according to the lawsuit, that Flowers had sampled Move Your Body without authorization. But the lawsuit claims that those discussions did not result in a license.
Donda 2 was exclusively made available by West through his Stem Player, a portable device that enables users to separate and reassemble song parts, in February. A request for comment was not immediately answered by Kano Computing Ltd, a British business that developed the Stem Player with West and is also mentioned in the lawsuit.
