The Weeknd has been hit with a lawsuit after two artists claim he stole their record and re-released it as his hit record “Call Out My Name.”
Suniel Fox and Henry Strange of the group Epikker filed a lawsuit on September 17th in California federal court. They claim that the Canadian Grammy-award-winning singer and his collaborators, Nicolas Jaar and Frank Dukes, plagiarized their 2015 record, “Vibeking,” for his 2018 single from his “My Dear Melancholy” EP. Fox and Strange also claim that PNDA, The Weeknd’s engineer and DJ, blatantly told them that they would not be receiving any credit for the song because the XO star didn’t know them.
“Just gonna tell The Weeknd that our production team wrote the track,” the two claim PNDA wrote to them. Strange claims that he replied to PNDA, insisting that Weeknd knew who he was and that the two had met during a Drake tour.
The suit notes several similarities, including both records “are in a minor key” and are both in “a 6/8 meter that is less common in popular music.”
The 3x platinum-selling “Call Out My Name” was an instant success, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Fox and Strange’s “Vibeking” is not available on YouTube or any streaming platform. Therefore, they have been unable to profit from their song.
The duo is suing for proceeds from “Call Out My Name” and all legal fees. In addition, they want a judge to ban The Weeknd from performing the song until the case is resolved.
