Anchored neatly on the Black Panther soundtrack, Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd’s 2018 collaboration “Pray For Me” went on to be a Billboard 100 Top 10 hit.
However, according to TMZ, a Brooklyn-based rock band named Yeasayer says the two hitmakers swiped their secret sauce via a 2007 record titled “Sunrise.”
The legal documents reportedly specify the band knew their sample was stolen, due to a “distinctive choral performance” that was “comprised of male voices singing in their highest registers, with animated, pulsing vibrato.”
Findings also deduced the sample was sped up with the “intent to conceal the infringement” and was used throughout “Pray for Me” up to eight separate times.
Yeasayer is not only requesting an injunction that blocks further sales and airplay of “Pray,” they want all the record’s profits and damages. There are no reports if the song’s producers Doc McKinney and Frank Dukes were named in the lawsuit as well.
Pitchfork notes the band broke up in 2019.
Listen to both songs below.
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Why do people hate success?
People hate thievery
How’s it theft? I didn’t hear one thing similar. To be quiet honest too it sounds like these yessir douche bags are jacking glass animals style anyway, and doing it way worse.
Glass animals weren’t even around in 2007 so I don’t think they could have stolen from them. Also, Glass animals have a very generic new age indie sound, there are a million bands that sound just the same.
They dundo anything !
& they’re just now coming out with it?…
Thirsty bishes..
Maybe they’ve just become aware of the song and sought legal advise first. Old r&b singers still suing rappers for samples from the 90s and 00s. Theres no statute of limitations on plaigarism.
Actually the high pitched wail is a cultural celebration sound made by Habesha women for a thousand years…Ethiopian and Eritrean….even today. You know The Weeknd is Ethiopian. They probably never even heard of Yeasayers song. To say it was stolen is a tremendous insult. First Yeasayer should educate themselves then apologize for their ignorance.
Kendrick been fucking with indie music since GKMC. It’s very possible he or whoever worked on the song heard the song before. A lot of people listen to more than just rap, especially artists.
” Ackshully issa hi pitch whale by Hashisha women…” FOH with this dumb shit
I doubt the Weeknd had any hand in actually creating the beat. I think its possible that he and kendrick might have thrown some ideas around but I think its very unlikely that they pulled any audio to be used. sloppy work on the producers side for not getting their ducks in a row before putting out the music.
A has been rock group, nobody knows about, never went anywhere with this song and who already broke up…I guess they gotta get paid somehow seeing as the their attempt at music failed…speeding up samples is not to disguise them from washed up rockers, it’s called art.
Just because a band breaks up “their attemp at music failed”? Did The Beatles fail at music? Did NWA fail at music? Yeasayer is actually quite popular outside of your hiphop world. Would you say the same thing if Skee Lo or some other washed up rapper was suing a white band for ripping them off?
I could see your argument until you made it a racial issue. But since you asked, yes I would say the same thing.
still gotta get the sample cleared, art ain’t free my guy
still gotta pay for the samples buddy, art ain’t free
Being has-beens, nobodies, or anything is completely irrelevant. Speeding up samples isn’t really art. It’s plagiarism, faster. Doesn’t matter how successful the rock group was, it’s still illegal to steal. C’mon, man.
Good point. The band’s current status is irrelevant. However, I still disagree that it’s stealing in this case.
It comes down to what tools and sounds the producers used to create the song. If a sample was stolen then it may be time to settle outside of court.
I listened and I don’t see it at all. I kno producers hide their samples all the time but this one is a reach at best.
Producers fucked up, if its true. Highly doubt kendrick or the Weeknd had much hand in the actual audio that was used in the song. Producers are the ones with the massive collections and knowledge of sounds/samples to be used. Should have done their due diligence to make sure everything was fair game. Shitty that kendrick and weeknd are the ones to catch the shit for it.
Kendrick produced the album
“There are no reports if the song’s producers Doc McKinney and Frank Dukes were named in the lawsuit as well.” Did you not read the article?
It’s funny how black people always call non-blacks culture vultures, yet they get caught stealing all the fucking time. And the cases that end up on news such as this, are just the tip of the iceberg.
Honestly it doesn’t sound sampled but recreated if anything. I wouldn’t doubt that the song was inspired by the yeasayers because the drumming and voices are similar but they don’t sound identical. I bet the case doesn’t go anywhere hopefully there is a follow up.
Also I think sampling is an art form but the scales can be topped either way when it’s the opinion on that because cutting something out or recreating a sampled work into something else can sound completely different or the samples version can be a better song/instrumental then the original. Also there isn’t much of a difference between sampling or a producer who hires session musicians to write music so he can cut it up and make beats out of that the only real differance is the legalities and rights.
First, it’s not even sampled. That already is trouble for Yeasayer. If their only claim is to have stolen some “style” of performance, its an even worse case. You can’t patent or own the “singing at a high register”. This case will be dismissed with no reward.
Yeah but wasn’t Robin Thicke sued by Marvin Gaye’s family under similar circumstances for “Blurred Lines”?
Yeah, but Robin Thickes dumbass did an interview and said he and Pharrell were listening to Marvin Gaye and wanted to make a song in that style. Then they made one that sounded almost exactly the same and got sued. It’s kind of like the McDonald’s hot coffee case where people think they can now just dump hot coffee in their laps and get paid.
I listen to this artist version and only the beginning of them yelling is the same his version sucks and sounds nothing like it. This man is just looking for money, next!
lmao gtfoh all profits?? these guys are delusional ..im about to play pray for me for the rest of the day..clowns.
Don’t know about the sampling but Yeasayers song is banging