Donald Glover Has Been Sued, Alleged to Have Stolen “This is America”

Donald Glover is being sued by a rapper named Kidd Wes over the 2018 song.

TMZ is reporting that actor/rapper Donald Glover is being sued over his 2018 Grammy-winning track “This is America.” Emelike Nwosuocha, who raps under the alias Kidd Wes, filed the suit, alleging Glover lifted his song from a 2016 track he recorded called “Made in America.” The lawsuit includes Glover, Roc Nation, the song’s co-writers, and even Young Thug–who simply provided ad-libs on the song.

In the documents, Kidd Wes says the “This is America” chorus is “unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical” to his song. Take a listen to the track on SoundCloud and decide for yourself.

Shortly after the track was released in 2018, a rapper named Jase Harley sparked speculation on Reddit after noticing similarities between “This is America” and his song “American Pharoah.” However, he didn’t push for any legal action.

“A shout out would be cool,” he wrote on Instagram at the time, “all good [though], he’s a great artists, dope I could’ve had some influence on the record…I always felt my song inspired it, from the first time I heard it. Glad they liked my song. It’s all love.”

“This is America” won in all four of its nominated Grammy categories–Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video. The track was the first rap song to win Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Stay tuned for further updates on the Donald Glover lawsuit.