Nicki Minaj gets dragged into court by Tracy Chapman for stealing the melody from “Baby Can I Hold You” for her recorded song, “Sorry.”
According to TMZ, Chapman said back in June, Minaj’s team made several attempts to get the song licensed, but was rejected. “Sorry” from her “Queen” album apparently used some of the lyrics and the melody from Chapman’s song.
The lawsuit noted that Minaj released the song anyway without the singer’s permission. The song “Sorry” was played several times by well-known DJ’s such as Funkmaster Flex and on “The Breakfast Club.”
In August Minaj attempted to get Chapman’s attention via twitter about the license to the song. The “Queen” rapper tweeted about picking between delaying the album or taking the song off completely and keeping the release date. “So there’s a record on #Queen that features 1of the greatest rappers of all time,”she tweeted. She continued, “Had no clue it sampled the legend #TracyChapman – do I keep my date & lose the record? Or do I lose the record & keep my date?…Tracy Chapman, can you please hit me. omg for the love of #Queen.”
In a now deleted tweet Minaj tweeted, “Sis said no.” The rapper’s team removed the song from the album but the damage had already been done.
Tracy is seeking money for damages and to stop Minaj’s team from ever releasing the song again.
