Rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye, is being sued by a Texas church pastor after he claimed parts of a sermon he gave were sampled without his permission.
Bishop David Paul Moten claimed that 70 seconds of his material were used on the track “Come to Life” from West’s Grammy-nominated album Donda.
Moten is also suing G.O.O.D Music, Def Jam Recordings, and UMG Recordings over the use of his sermons in the song.
The “Donda” album was released in late August 2021, and the track “Come to Life” was produced by West, Jeff Bhasker, Warryn Campbell, Mark Williams, and Raul Cubina.
According to Moten’s attorneys, the track is approximately five minutes and ten seconds in length, and approximately one minute and ten seconds of the song is sampled directly from Moten’s sermon.
The sample appears to run on a loop during the pre-chorus and chorus throughout the song, Moten’s attorneys said.
Moten’s attorneys also alleged that West has demonstrated a pattern of “willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission.”
