A Jamaican artist has sued Younger Now singer Miley Cyrus for $300 million because he thinks “We Can’t Stop” borrows too liberally from one of his songs. Flourgon, who got his start at Jamaica’s sound system circuit during the ’80s, says that one “We Can’t Stop” lyric, “We run things / Things don’t run we,” lifts from his 1988 song “We Run Things,” which goes, “We run things / Things no run we,” according to Billboard. (Revisit both songs below to see whether you can hear any other similarities.)
With his lawsuit, Flourgon wants to block all future sales and performances of “We Can’t Stop.”
“We Can’t Stop” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its 2013 debut. Furthermore, the song helped Cyrus transform from Hannah Montana and “Party in the U.S.A.” child star to fully grown (and still controversial) adult pop star, via a still ongoing flirtation with hip-hop. “We Can’t Stop,” written by Jamaican brother duo Rock City and produced by Mike Will Made It, was originally intended for Rihanna. But Mike Will says that he eventually pitched “We Can’t Stop” to Cyrus, even though he wasn’t sure whether she was doing music at the time, because he thought of that song as “a mature ‘Party In The U.S.A.’,” as he has told multiple publications.
