Lil Uzi Vert is being accused of ripping off certainly one of his largest hits, “I Simply Wanna Rock,” in a brand new $110 million copyright lawsuit filed in federal court docket by a Rochester, New York artist who claims Uzi’s 2022 anthem borrows almost all of its DNA from his earlier observe “Ache and Pleasure.”
Sharrief Okay. Bouchet, recognized professionally as Rawyal or Rief Rawyal, alleges that “I Simply Wanna Rock” — launched October 17, 2022 — “copied the unique hook, melody, and theme” of his document, significantly the signature chant “After I rock ah ah.”
A forensic musicologist’s report hooked up to the submitting discovered a 93-97% derivation between the 2 songs. The evaluation, carried out by Musicologize founder Brian McBrearty, cited shared tempo, construction, and rhythmic patterns — particularly the equivalent “ah” vocal chants and the almost indistinguishable lyrical phrasing across the phrase “rock.”
McBrearty’s report famous that each tracks “reside within the core band of ‘allegro,’between 130–150 beats per minute, and make use of the identical drum sample and rhythmic syncopation, referred to as’ tresillo,’an indicator of reggaeton and dance beats.”
He added that each songs characteristic “first-person, present-tense declarations that finish with the equivalent phrase ‘rock,’forming a parallel lyrical construction.”
In “Ache and Pleasure,” Rawyal sings, “Ache and pleasure once I rock, ah, ah,” whereas Uzi’s model chants, “I simply wanna rock, ah, ah, ah, ah.” McBrearty concluded these moments type “the hook, or the center, of the respective works.”
Rief Rawyal says he launched “Ache and Pleasure” on August 15, 2022, and later noticed his model suppressed on Meta platforms after Uzi’s document dropped that October.
He claims that his uploads had been repeatedly muted or faraway from Instagram and Fb as “Simply Wanna Rock” gained recognition throughout TikTok, Fortnite, and within the trailer for the Blue Beetle film.
The lawsuit claims Uzi and Atlantic Information had direct entry to Rief Rawyal’s materials. The rapper says he’d been in touch with Lanre Gaba, now president of Hip-Hop, R&B and World Music at Atlantic Information, since 2012.
He supplied the label govt with authentic songs, together with music recordsdata and demos, throughout that interval.
He argues that this established a “clear institutional pathway” for his unreleased materials to flow into internally, probably resulting in Uzi or his producers acquiring and recreating components of his beat and hook construction.
The go well with names Lil Uzi Vert, Atlantic Information, Technology Now, Roc Nation, and Warner Music Group as defendants. Rief Rawyal argues that the businesses used his creation to safe profitable licensing offers with TikTok, Meta, and synthetic intelligence companies.
He’s demanding greater than $110 million in damages, citing misplaced streaming income, sync and licensing offers, and reputational hurt. The submitting additionally seeks retroactive publishing credit score, an possession share and an injunction to cease additional use of the tune.
Rief Rawyal, a former Jive Information artist and U.S. Marine veteran, says Ache and Pleasure was meant to mark his comeback after years away from music.
He insists that Atlantic had entry to his work and that its subsequent reappearance in a world hit robbed him of the popularity and industrial alternatives he was poised to regain.
The lawsuit is the newest authorized motion the rapper is going through. He’s at the moment being sued by a Jane Doe assistant who claims the rapper harassed her at work and created a poisonous atmosphere.
Associated
