Ghanaian rap legend, Obrafour, has taken legal action against Canadian rapper Drake for an unauthorized sampling of his 2003 remix of ‘Oye Ohene’ in Drake’s song ‘Calling My Name’ from his Honestly Nevermind album. Obrafour has filed a lawsuit in a New York court, claiming that Drake violated his copyright by using his song without permission.
According to court documents, Obrafour stated that despite an agent of Drake’s contacting him to seek permission to use his copyrighted work, Drake released the infringing song on June 17, 2022, without obtaining proper authorization. Obrafour never granted permission for the use of his copyrighted work, and the infringing song was released just days later, the documents claimed.
Obrafour further pointed out that since the release of ‘Calling My Name’, Drake and other defendants have greatly benefited from his work. The infringing song has been streamed over 4.1 million times on YouTube and over 47,442,160 times on Spotify within just 304 days of its release, in addition to generating substantial streams and sales on other platforms, including Apple Music. The defendants have also exploited the infringing work through live performances and other means, Obrafour alleged.
In his lawsuit, Obrafour is seeking damages in an amount not less than $10,000,000, as well as an injunction requiring the defendants and their agents, employees, officers, attorneys, successors, licensees, partners, and assigns, and all persons acting in concert with them, to cease directly and indirectly infringing his rights protected by the Copyright Act.
The lawsuit also implicates other defendants, including writers, producers, performers, record labels, entertainment companies, publishers, managers, administrators, and/or distributors of the infringing work.
The sampling of Obrafour’s song by Drake came as a double surprise for Ghanaians when Drake released his Honestly Nevermind album in June 2022. The sample from Obrafour’s song is found at 0:53 seconds in Drake’s track ‘Calling My Name’, where it transitions into a house music vibe, giving the song a different ambiance compared to its original trajectory. The chant “Killa cut!” heard multiple times in that part of the song was originally sung by Mantse Aryeequaye as an opener to Obrafour’s 2003 remix of ‘Oye Ohene’ from the Ntete Pa album.
