American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer Kanye West is being sued by a record company for allegedly sampling their track without permission.
The 45-year-old rap star released Life Of The Party on his Stem player as part of the deluxe edition of his album Donda in 2021, but according to legal documents obtained by TMZ, he did not obtain the rights to South Bronx from record company Boogie Down Productions before using part of the track on his record, despite allegedly initially reaching out to do so.
A company source told the outlet: “Ye and his partner Alex Klein sold around 11K Stem Players within the first 24 hours of its release, raking in around $2.2 million. They never got permission to use the sample even though Ye’s team initially reached out to try to license it.”
The company claims West and his partner Alex Klein made about $2.2 million from the sale of 11K Stem Players on the first day of its release.
The outlet went on to claim that sides never came to an agreement and Ye’s team eventually decided to retract their licensing offer but went on to heavily advertise the track in order to boost sales of his album but the KRS-One-owned company is now attempting to block the track from streaming services.
The news comes just days after it was revealed that the Stronger rapper - who caused controversy last month when he tweeted that he was about to “go death con 3″ on Jewish people - is said to have admired late Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler, who instigated the murder of six million Jews through the Holocaust from 1939 until 1945, accordding to Nzherald.
However, Kanye, who was married to reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian, 42, and has children North, 9, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 3, with her, has now reportedly paid off the former employee for an undisclosed amount, according to documents obtained by NBC News.
The outlet went on to allege that six others who have worked with Kanye, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, had also “heard him mention conspiracy theories about Jewish people or praise Hitler”.
The music label denies ever giving permission to use the sample, revealed that the rapper’s team originally tried to obtain a license for it but they never reached any agreement.
Boogie Down Productions has now asked West and the company to turn over any revenues made from the track, according to Geo.tv.