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Kanye West, music mogul who is already going through a lot after his controversial moves and fights on his X account, was recently hit with another legal battle over a copyright infringement claim.
Merton, best known for her hit No Roots, claims that West's song bears striking similarities to her own work and that the similarities are too much to brush off as coincidence.
The lawsuit, which was filed in California federal court and seen by Variety, claims that West used Merton’s 2022 song Blindside in his own track Gun to My Head, which features Ty Dolla $ign and Kid Cudi.
However, the singer and songwriter was “shocked and humiliated” when the rapper played the song during Vultures listening event in December 2023, and even more so when he included it in the deluxe edition of Vultures 2 in August 2024.
Merton said that West contacted her publisher BMG, in February 2024, asking to sample Blindside. She refused, citing his controversial remarks about race and antisemitism.
And when the Heartless rapper's team asked for an explanation, Merton’s representatives explained that her decision was due to his values clashing with hers.
After Vultures 2 was released, Merton faced harassment from fans who blamed her for the song’s absence. This left her worried for her safety, so she stopped performing Blindside at her shows.