Boogie Down Productions Is Suing Ye For Unauthorized Sample Use On Stem Player

Phase One Network, which oversees the Boogie Down Productions catalog, is suing Ye for copyright infringement over 1987 song “South Bronx.”

Ye has more legal trouble on his hands. In a new Rolling Stone report, it was announced that asset management company Phase One Network, which oversees the Boogie Down Productions catalog, is suing the Donda 2 artist for copyright infringement. The lawsuit alleges that the artist formerly known as Kanye West previously bought licensing permissions for André 3000-assisted track “Life of the Party,” which samples “South Bronx” by Boogie Down Productions.

The lawsuit claims that “horn hits, melodic figures, and drum fills” produced by KRS-One and Scott La Rock on 1986 track were replicated on “Life of the Party” which was utilized on Ye’s stem player device. Per the lawsuit, the artist retracted his request to use “South Bronx” on November 16, 2021 after making an initial licensing request on July 15, 2021. By November, “Life of the Party” was already a Stem Player-exclusive track on Ye’s tenth album Donda, which released on August 29 of that same year.

“By illegally incorporating South Bronx into the Infringing Track and authorizing the distribution of the Infringing Track through the Stemplayer and its associated website, all Defendants have allowed for the widespread distribution of the Infringing Track and have direct financial interest in the same,” the court documents read.