Billboard’s “Top Gospel Artist of 2021” Kanye West is headed back to court with a Texas pastor over a sample on his Grammy-winning album “Donda.” According to the outlet, Bishop David Paul Moten sued the Yeezy CEO for sampling his sermon on the track “Come to Life.”
Court docs claim Ye used 70 seconds of audio featuring Moten’s voice and sermon at the beginning and end of the track. Moten expressed his disapproval of the music industry and the Grammy-winning artist in a statement.
He said, “Defendants willfully and without permission or consent of Plaintiff extensively sampled portions of the Sermon. Over the span of several years, defendants have demonstrated an alarming pattern and willfully and egregiously [sample] sound recordings of others without consent or permission.”
He added, “Approximately one minute and ten seconds of this sound recording is sampled directly from Plaintiff’s sermon.” He is also suing UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings, and West’s label, G.O.O.D. Music.
UMG Recordings was recently been pulled into another lawsuit over West’s sampling. Last month, Variety reported that the label was being sued over royalties from Ye’s 2010 track “Power.” It features a sample from the King Crimson song “21st Century Schizoid Man,” and was allegedly used without a license.
Back in 2019, West was sued for sampling on 2016’s “Ultralight Beam.” The track’s opening features a viral clip of 4-year-old Natalie reciting a prayer. The case was brought by her legal guardians, Andrew and Shirley Green, who adopted Natalie in 2012, TMZ reports. Court docs state that Kanye’s team asked the child’s biological mother for permission to use her voice. However, the Greens argued that the mother had no legal right to grant permission.
