The rapper told the court that he “went through the normal process” to have the samples in the songs ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Moon’ cleared
Kanye West has claimed that “a lot of people try to take advantage of me” while testifying at an ongoing copyright trial.
A lawsuit against the rapper was filed in 2024, alleging that West used elements from a song called ‘MSD PT2’ on ‘Moon’ and ‘Hurricane’ on his 10th studio record ‘DONDA‘.
Despite claiming that West was refused permission to sample the song, the suit claims West did so anyway in a “blatant theft of musical property”. While the sample wasn’t included in the final recording, West did perform an early version of ‘Hurricane’ containing the snippet at a July 2021 listening party.
Khalil Abdul Rahman, Sam Barsh, Dan Seeff and Josh Mease – the musicians behind ‘MSD PT2’ – are seeking $500,000 in damages from West.
Now, West has testified at the trial yesterday (Wednesday May 6), telling the court that “we went through the normal process” to have the samples cleared (via Billboard).
He went on to add that “I pride myself on giving people what they deserve” for credit and royalties – but accused other people of being less generous.
“I feel like a lot of people try to take advantage of me,” West told the jury. “As I sit in this courtroom today, I just think people are trying to make more than they otherwise would because it’s me.”
The plaintiffs have argued that West’s performance of the ‘Hurricane’ demo in 2021 earned him significant ticket sales, merch, and a $750,000 livestreaming deal with Apple Music.
However, during his testimony, West argued that fans would have bought tickets to the listening party even if ‘Hurricane’ or ‘Moon’ were excluded from the setlist.
“People came to hear whatever I was going to play that was new,” West said. “Often people buy merch before they even hear the music.”
NME reviewed ’Donda’ on its release in 2021, awarding it three stars and writing: “While ‘DONDA’ certainly isn’t a rushed job, it could have benefitted from West spending a little less time on it and learning when to let things go. Nobody needs all 27 of these tracks, but dig deep into its contents and you’ll find enough gems to make his 10th album worth your time.”
Ye released new album ’Bully’ in March and has attempted to launch a world tour, but many shows have been cancelled – in the UK, Switzerland, Poland and France – due to the rapper’s past anti-Semitic remarks.
