/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/VXLVXQQZ7L7HQWJ5C6ET7EAQZQ.jpg?w=1068&resize=1068,0&ssl=1 "Texas pastor sues Ye, alleging rapper sampled sermon for Donda album")
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A Texas pastor has filed a federal lawsuit in opposition to rapper Ye, alleging the artist improperly sampled a part of his sermon for a tune on his 2021 album Donda.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Dallas on behalf of 57-year-old David Paul Moten, names Universal Music Group, Def Jam Recordings, G.O.O.D. Music, and the rapper, previously generally known as Kanye West, as defendants.
The defendants didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Ye used an unlicensed pattern from considered one of Moten’s sermons within the tune “Come to Life,” in line with the lawsuit. About a minute and 10 seconds of the five-minute tune accommodates a pattern of the sermon, working on a loop within the background of the refrain and pre-chorus, the lawsuit says.
The sampled parts embrace the opening of the tune, when a person may be heard saying, “My soul cries out, ‘Hallelujah,’ and I thank God for saving me. I, I thank God,” in addition to an interlude after Ye’s first verse throughout which an individual may be heard saying “Hallelujah” a number of instances, the lawsuit says.
Moten leads The Joy of the Lord Worship Center in Victoria. Brandon Smith, Moten’s lawyer, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The lawsuit additionally says Ye and the document labels have a historical past of “willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission,” however doesn’t elaborate on the declare.
Donda was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album on the 2022 Grammy Awards.