Cardi B, City Girls, Master P Sued By "Choppa Style" Producer for Copyright Infringement
DJ JMK, the producer of Choppa’s 2002 hit song “Choppa Style,” has sued multiple rappers and producers for copyright infringement.
According to NBC affiliate WDSU, JMK, born Kirk Edwards, is suing Cardi B, Master P, French Montana, City Girls, and Yo Gotti for using his beat without approval or compensation.
The New Orleans DJ claims he agreed to a deal with Choppa’s label Take Fo Records for flat fee royalties for the original “Choppa Style” beat in addition to a 30 percent bonus if the song secured national distribution.
Edwards says he’s never received payment, but a producer named William “Playa Will” Nelson was hired to recreate the instrumental without his permission. Court documents show Edwards claims Nelson allegedly replicated the “horn riff, arrangement and melody” and used a piano to “copy the horn melody and arrangement.”
Edwards is seeking the money he’s owed plus damages in the lawsuit.
According to TMZ, Edwards said he made the instrumental in November 2000 and played it at clubs where he DJ'd and that the artists have all "misappropriated many of the recognizable and key protected elements"
Listen to the original "Choppa Style" above and the songs that sample it below.