Another day, another Kendrick Lamar lawsuit. The celebrated Top Dawg Entertainment rapper has faced his fair share of legal troubles. He's been sued over "Keisha's Song," "Rigamortis," "All the Stars," "Pray For Me," and now his Rihanna-assisted hit track, "Loyalty." According to multiple reports, K-Dot stands accused of copyright infringement from musician Terrance Hayes who claims that the track carries “the entire composition, including title, melody, harmony, and rhythm,” from his own song. Hayes further claims that he also titled his track "Loyalty."
In 2011, Hayes alleges that he worked with another musician named Josef Leimberg. In 2015, Leimberg contributed to Kendrick's To Pimp a Butterfly, and Hayes states that producer Terrace Martin accessed Leimberg's computer and lifted his song. Additionally, the lawsuit doesn't only list Lamar; other defendants include Leimberg, Martin, and TDE.
While we have yet to hear Hayes's alleged version of "Loyalty," the lawsuit claims the award-winning track was slowed "down through a synthesizer and combined it with another sample to disguise the copying.” Also, "The chord progression of the Infringing Song is identical to the Subject Track progression, with one exception: In measure 3, the Infringing Song progression returns to Am for 3 beats before ascending to Em in an upper octave.”
Hayes is asking for a court to award him all profits amassed from the hit single and any other monies that the those named in the lawsuit have gained from the song. He also wants his legal fees to be covered, as well. We're looking forward to comparing these tracks in the near future.
[via]