Underground producer TSVI has accused Kanye West of “stealing” a sample from one of his songs.
The musician took to social media on April 3, claiming that West used a sample of his song ‘12345678’ on the track ‘Believe What I Say’ from 2021’s ‘Donda’. “This is crazy I just found out Kanye West sampled one of my tracks in Donda wtfff,” he initially wrote. “Why am I finding out about this only now????? I need to get paid asap”.
TSVI went on to allege that West sampled the words ‘one’ and ‘six’ from field recordings made by the producer, whereas the ‘work it’ phrase was sampled by TVSI.
He then posted a longer follow-up tweet (as per MusicTech), calling it one of the most “surreal” things to happen to him: “Fuck Kanye though. I’ve seen stories of him stealing samples from other producers in the underground music scene, and it sucks.
“We producers are at the bottom of the chain; he’s at the top with billions in his bank account, with a team of producers who have complete freedom to sample whatever they want. He has an infinite sample pack at his disposal, which he can use as he pleases, without any repercussions.
“Anyway, I’ll probably never see any money from this, but I appreciate all of your support and kind messages.”
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In a comment to MusicTech, TSVI responded: “The minimum that I’d like to gain from this situation is at least a credit on the song.”
NME have reached out to Kanye for comment.
This is not the first time West has been accused of “stealing” samples. Ozzy Osbourne hit out against West and called him an “anti-Semite” for using Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ without permision last February. Wife Sharon subsequently called West out, saying he “fucked with the wrong Jew this time”.
West subsequently removed the ‘Iron Man’ sample from his song, but replaced it with a sample of his own song ‘Hell Of A Life’ – which also samples ‘Iron Man’.
Donna Summer‘s estate has also criticised the musician for using a sample of her seminal track ‘I Feel Love’ without permission. West also allegedly used a Backstreet Boys sample without their consent as well in his track ‘Everybody’, referencing their hit song.
In other news, West has been sued by a former Yeezy and Donda Academy student for allegedly threatening to “cage” his students. Trevor Phillips has accused the musician of a number of allegations including verbal abuse, threatening physical violence and comparing himself to Hitler.
While representatives have not yet responded to the allegations brought to light by Phillips, they have previously dismissed claims about the Donda Academy. In a past response from Ye’s lawyer (via NBC News), the former employees’ descriptions of the school were described as a “dystopian institution designed to satisfy Ye’s idiosyncrasies”.
“None of it is true and the allegations do a disservice to the Donda Academy’s current staff and students and their parents who will attest to their positive experience,” they said in a 2023 filing.