A Texas pastor sues Kanye West for sampling his voice without permission in the album Donda
2 min read
AP/Michael Wyke
Kanye West is getting dragged to court after a Texas pastor sued the rapper for sampling his sermon on Ye’s 2021 album Donda.
A lawsuit was filed against Kanye by Bishop David Paul Moten. The pastor claims that the Grammy-winning artist used his religious speech in the standout track titled Come to Life.
Here’s everything you need to know.
A Texas pastor filed a Lawsuit against Kanye
Texas pastor Bishop David Paul Moten is reportedly suing Kanye over a piece of his voice used in his track without authorization. He has also filed a lawsuit against UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings, and G.O.O.D Music. The pastor is seeking damages from all of them.
Media outlet TMZ reports that according to the Texas court documents Moten’s sermon was used for 70 seconds of the 5-minute, 10-second track. Moten further added that nearly 20 percent of the song had his voice.
The pastor said that his sermon can be heard in the song’s introduction and is further looped all through the track.
The Bishop slammed the 44 years old rapper and his entire music crew for purposely sampling audio recordings of others without their consent.
Kanye, who legally changed his name to Ye last year, is yet to comment on the alleged suit filed by the pastor.
More about Donda
Kanye released his album Donda last year in August. The album became his tenth studio to reach Billboard 200 after its release.
Donda reportedly had much more success than the singer’s previous albums such as Jesus Is King and Ye.
The album grossed more than 60 million streams in the first 24 hours of its release on the Apple music store in the United States of America. Donda broke the then-2021 record on the platform.
Kanye further released a deluxe version of the album in November. This premium version included tracks such as Life of the Party featuring André 3000 and Remote Control pt. 2 featuring Young Thug and Kid Cudi. It also consisted of a different version of Keep My Spirit Alive among many others.
Earlier this year in February, Kanye dropped his eleventh studio album Donda 2 in Miami. He further exclusively released the Donda’s sequel through his Stem Player.
The album reflects on several aspects of Kanye’s life. The theme of Donda explores his religious beliefs of Ye including his divorce from social celebrity Kim Kardashian. The album further expresses his feelings towards his mother Donda West.
