Drake Sued Again for Copyright Infringement Over “In My Feelings” and “Nice for What”
Drake
Drake Has Been Sued For A Third Time Over The Sample Behind ‘In My Feelings’ And ‘Nice For What’
Back in 2019, a little over a year after Drake released his fifth album Scorpion, Drake was hit with a lawsuit over his No. 1 songs “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What.” Both songs were played a big role in the success of Scorpion, but according to Sam Skully (whose real name is Samuel Nicholas III), the track wrongfully sampled aspects of his 2000 song “Roll Call (Instrumental)” in the respective tracks. Skully’s first lawsuit was dismissed, as was his second case, because he failed to actually litigate them. However, according to Billboard, Skully has filed his third lawsuit against Drake alleging copyright infringement over “In My Feelings” and “Nice For What.”
In the lawsuit, Skully claims that aspects of “Roll Call (Instrumental)” were sampled and added to the records from Scorpion by the songs’ producer BlaqNmilD, whose real name Adam J. Pigott. Skully claims that Pigott used the same sample in other records that he worked on for other artists. However, Pigott’s representatives say that both he and Skully used the same sample from a 1986 record by legendary Queens hip hop duo The Showboys.
“It is this song, ‘Drag Rap (Triggerman),’ that Adam had indeed sampled for the compositions in question,” BlaqNmilD’s manager Craig E. Baylis says. “The Showboys will attest that Adam ensured that they were contacted for all proper clearances. Our question is, has the plaintiff done the same?”
Asylum Records, Cash Money Records, Republic Records, and New Orleans legend Big Freedia were also named in the lawsuit. Skully’s lawyer, Mark Edward Andrews, and representatives Drake and Warner Music Group did not return requests for comment from Billboard.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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Drake Is A Courtside Highlight At Toronto Raptors Basketball Games: ‘It Was Great To See His Fandom’
Drake has always loved his hometown basketbal team, the Toronto Raptors. That love turned into a business relationship in 2013 when he was announced as the team’s Global Ambassador. Drake has since helped the team from behind the scenes by promoting them and serving as a host for some of their events, as well as providing consulting services to rebrand them. More times than not, you will catch Drake sitting courtside at their games, enthusiastically cheering the team on, even trash-talking opponents at times. So what’s it like to sit next to the Certified Lover Boy rapper at these games?
Toronto’s The Star recently spoke to some people who were fortunate enough to be next to Drake during games. “Sitting beside Drake was awesome. It was the biggest game of the season at that point, and he and K.D. [Kevin Durant] had something going most of the night,” NHL analyst Sam Cosentino said. “It was great to see his fandom and how passionate he is for the game, and especially for his home team.”
Raptors’ play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin also shared his thoughts. “He’s close with Steph (Curry). He’s close with (Kevin Durant),” he says. “There’s some fun back and forth going on during a game, and it’s cool to sit there and observe.”
This also brings us back to the hilarious moment in December when Drake sat next to an older couple who had no idea who he was. Jim and Renee Stanley, who are both in their 70s, shared what it was like to sit next to Drake. “When the game was starting after the half, a young man sat down next to us and really didn’t say anything at first,” Jim said. “My first reaction was — don’t get this wrong — he smelled good. I said to him, ‘I really like what you are wearing.’ He turned to me and said thanks and shook my hand.” The trio would end up taking a selfie together where Drake called them “my new parents.”
You can read the full piece on The Star here.
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The end of 2021 was filled with highs and lows for Kanye West. At the end of November, he experienced the loss of Virgil Abloh, a beloved fashion designer and DJ who passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. Kanye and Virgil were close friends and the two collaborated numerous times over the years. A short time later, Kanye and Drake held their Larry Hoover Benefit Concert, which came after the two settled their differences after being on bad terms for three years. During a celebrity-filled Black Future Month brunch that was held last month, Kanye reflected on Virgil’s death and reconnecting with Drake.
“Virgil was the third person in a position of power at LVMH to die of cancer,” Kanye said. “Without his gang, without his support system, without his Dame Dash.” Kanye also expressed his frustration with seeming to have been boxed out of a collaboration with Virgil. He also claimed he was not allowed to speak at the late designer’s funeral back in December. Later, Kanye thanked Larry Hoover for helping to patch things up between him and Drake.
“Larry Hoover brought me and Drake together,” he said. “That man created peace. He called that from the prison. Larry Hoover called that from the prison, and everybody was happy.” He added, “When people see me and Drake pull up to a basketball game with both of our sons, with my oldest and his son, that’s gonna save people’s lives in the hood. They’re gonna see that.”
You can watch the 90-minute Black Future Month brunch conference on Facebook here.
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