Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar sued over Drake diss song 'Like That'
Rappers, Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar are facing legal action over unpaid royalties related to the sample used in their hit Drake diss track, “Like That.”
Rodney O, whose classic track “Everlasting Bass” was sampled on the original version, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was not paid the agreed royalties and that the sample was never properly cleared. He is also suing the estate of Barry White, whose work was sampled in the “Like That” remix released by Kanye West.
According to the lawsuit, Rodney O says he was excluded from the songwriting credits when the track was submitted to the Grammys. He also alleges he was not provided with the version of the song featuring Kendrick Lamar’s headline-making verse.
A representative for Metro Boomin told TMZ that the producers had, in fact, obtained the rights to the sample and paid Rodney O $50,000. The rep added that any further issues might lie with the Barry White estate, which may be holding up additional royalty payments through its relationship with Epic Records. The estate has not yet commented on the matter.
Rodney O previously spoke about the experience of hearing the sample used in “Like That,” telling Vibe: “It is crazy because the song was big when it came out, and for it to be even bigger now all these years later, it’s crazy. I heard the song, I knew it was good, but when it comes out and the world hears it how you hear it and reacts the way you reacted to it, that’s confirmation.”
However, he noted he had not received the full version of the song in advance, which led to surprise upon hearing Lamar’s involvement. “Somebody called me the day before it came out and said, ‘Hey man, I got some news for you… I actually heard Kendrick is on that record,’” he recalled. “I said, ‘No, Kendrick ain’t on that record because I have it.’”
Believing he had the final version, Rodney assumed Lamar might only appear on a remix. “Songs now they’ll be two minutes and 30 seconds, so when I heard it, I’m like, ‘That’s the whole song.’ So I said, ‘He might be on a remix or something like that.’”
0 Comments