Childish Gambino‘s “This is America” is a blatant ripoff of a track that sounds similar, has a similar name and was all over the Internet almost 2 years before the rapper’s smash hit was released … so claims a musician in a new lawsuit.
Emelike Nwosuocha, a rapper who performs under the name Kidd Wes, is suing Childish Gambino, AKA Donald Glover, claiming he ripped off his song, “Made in America.”
According to Kidd Wes … he created his track on SoundCloud in September 2016 and released it on YouTube a couple months later, where people could listen to it for free. He says he also registered the song with the U.S Copyright Office in May 2017, and it was set to be the lead single on his upcoming album.
As you likely know … Gambino’s “This is America” was released in 2018, became incredibly popular and went on to win Grammy for Record of the Year.
According to the docs … Kidd Wes claims the chorus, or hook, of “This is America” is “unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical” to his “Made in America.”
Wes claims Gambino’s “flow” is also substantially similar to his, and points to key lyrics in “Made in America” being similar to the hook’s refrain in “This is America,” for example:
“Made in America / Flex on the radio / Made me a terrorist / Pessimistic n***as / You should just cherish this”
Compared to this: “This is America / Guns in my area / I got the strap / I gotta carry ’em”
Kidd Wes claims there are also scientific similarities in the 2 tracks, and alleges it’s not a coincidence — he believes he was intentionally ripped off, and he wants major damages.
He’s suing Gambino, the co-writers of “This is America,” the record labels that put it out, Roc Nation, and even Young Thug … who sings backup vocals on the track.
We reached out to Childish Gambino … no word back yet.
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