An artist has accused Drake of sampling his song without permission.
A lawsuit was filed in Manhatten federal court on April 18 by Ghanaian artist, Obrafour, who has accused the Canadian star of sampling his 2003 single “Oye Ohene” on “Calling My Name.”
The lawsuit says that elements of “Oye Ohene (Remix)” are heard on Drake’s track, which was released on June 17, 2022, Rolling Stone reported.
Obrafour claims he received two “clearance” emails from Drake’s team. One on June 8, 2022. The email’s body allegedly stated that the label was “currently working on a sample clearance for Republic recording artist Drake” and asked for “consent for both the master rights and publishing rights.” It also claims a follow-up email was sent on June 13, 2022, that reads, “Hi confirming you received this email, thanks.”
“Obrafour had not yet responded to the June 8, 2022 clearance email or the follow-up June 13, 2022 clearance email at the point when Drake’s ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ album was released.
The infringing work is one of the songs appearing on the ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ album, released to the world by ‘surprise’ on June 17, 2022,” the lawsuit reads.
Drake’s album was surprisingly released just nine days later before Obrafour had a chance to respond to the email.
“Defendants continue to engage in infringement, despite acknowledging that they needed to secure rights and authorization from Obrafour,” his legal team continued.
“Defendants have never accounted to, credited, or otherwise compensated Obrafour for their unauthorized use of the copyrighted work.”
