Record label TufAmerica is suing Kanye West for what it claims are illegal song samples on the rapper’s latest album.
According to Billboard, the label reckons two tracks on West’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy include a bit from Hook and Sling, Part 1 by New Orleans’ singer-pianist Eddie Bo.
TufAmerica claim they bought the rights to the 1969 single more than 15 years ago. The sample appears in two tracks on West’s record – Who Will Survive in America? and Lost in the World. It also turned up in the Lost in the World video and the short film based on West’s song Runaway.
The label filed their complaint in a federal court in Manhattan, claiming West’s label Roc-A-Fella and parent Universal Music Group paid it a license fee of $62,500, but “failed and refused to enter into written license agreements that accounted for their multiple other uses of Hook and Sling“.
TufAmerica, represented by New York attorney Kelly Talcott, is seeking undisclosed damages for copyright infringement.
Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy debuted at No. 1 on the American Billboard 200 charts with 496,000 units sold, and since has been certified platinum.
Last week, West released a collaboration album with artists on his GOOD Music label – Cruel Summer.
