Kanye Is Being Sued Over The Sample Of A Girl Praying On ‘Ultralight Beam’

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Kanye West has more legal drama right now than you can shake a stick at, but it looks like he’ll have to make some room on his plate for even more. TMZ reports that the beleaguered Producer Of The Year nominee is being sued over his Life Of Pablo single “Ultralight Beam,” all because of a sample that he never cleared — because he asked the wrong set of parents.

The audio of a little girl praying emphatically is the centerpiece of the track, which also features Chance The Rapper and Kirk Franklin. Kanye’s reps reached out to the little girl’s biological mother, Alice Johnson, for permission to use the sample, but the girl’s adoptive parents, Andrew and Shirley Green, say that since they are her legal guardians, Johnson should have no legal right to lend permission to use the audio, was drawn from a viral video posted to social media. The Greens also maintain that Johnson never received a written license agreement or payment, so they’re suing for royalties as well.

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Kanye was also the victim of identity theft recently, after a scammer formerly associated with his GOOD Music label forged his signature on a $1 million performance deal for a NYFW show Kanye had no part in. He is also suing EMI in a bid to end his contract early by massaging a technicality in California labor law. Fortunately for Kanye, he did get the class action lawsuit against The Life Of Pablo settled, so that’s one less thing for him to have to deal with.

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