Kanye West is back in the news after what feels like eons since he was out of the headlines, which is a rarity these days.
According to TMZ, West is being sued in court by a Texas pastor for sampling his sermon on “Come to Life,” a popular track from West’s 2021 album Donda.
This is not the first time Ye has been sued over the last couple of years. In November 2020, West was sued for $1 million for unpaid wages in a class-action lawsuit by performers in his Nebuchadnezzar live opera. A similar situation occurred in February 2021 when performers and crew from the Sunday Service Choir filed a class-action lawsuit against the rapper worth $30 million for unpaid wages.
Bishop David Paul Moten, the pastor suing West, has also filed a lawsuit against UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings and G.O.O.D Music. He is claiming that West sampled audio from his sermon without his permission and as a result, Moten is seeking damages from all four parties involved.
From TMZ:
In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Moten claims his sermon is used for 70 seconds of the 5-minute, 10-second track ... which is more than 20 percent of the song.
Moten says his voice and sermon are used in the song intro and looped throughout the song ... and he says it’s the latest example of Kanye and the music industry “willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission.”
The last two months have been busy for Mr. West.
Last month West dropped out as a headliner of Coachella and was replaced by the Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia.
In March, West’s Grammy performance was cancelled despite his five nominations and actually winning two for best rap song and best melodic rap performance. Earlier in March, West was kicked off of Instagram for 24 hours after repeatedly harassing his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, her boyfriend Pete Davidson and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah.