As discovered by TMZ, Ye is being sued by Bishop David Paul Moten, a pastor in Texas who claims the rapper used one of his sermons without prior permission. The sample in question features in the Donda track ‘Come to Life’: Moten claims Ye filled out the track with audio of his religious speech without asking first.
As per documents obtained by TMZ, Moten points out that his sermon accounts for 70 seconds of ‘Come to Life”s 5-minute and 10-second run time, equating to more than 20% of the track.
Moten’s voice and sermon can be heard in the intro and is subsequently looped throughout the rest of the track. According to the pastor, it’s simply the latest example of Ye and the music industry at large “willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission.”
Alongside Ye, Moten is also suing UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recording and G.O.O.D Music. Ye hasn’t publicly commented on the lawsuit yet, but he probably won’t be too happy about it.
‘Come to Life’ features on the rapper’s 10th studio album Donda, one of 2021’s biggest releases. It was notable for its music video, which featured footage from the third Donda listening party at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
The clip showed Ye getting set on fire while sitting in a replica of his childhood home. Kim Kardashian then slowly approached the centre of the stadium wearing a Balenciaga wedding dress, reuniting with Ye for the video’s finale (see below).
It’s not the first time Ye has faced troubling lawsuits. Last year, he was served with two class-action lawsuits and up to $30 million in damages after allegations that he failed to pay up to 1,000 performers and backstage staff at his Sunday Service concerts.
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Check out ‘Come to Life’ by Kanye West:
