Knocker Five sues Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, Cardi B and Souja Boy for copyright infringement over claims that the 2024 song “Wanna Be” includes an unspecified sample from the 2008 track “Me & My Goons.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court, says Megan and GloRilla stole Plies' material indirectly – that they used a legally licensed sample of a Soulja Boy song that itself was illegally borrowed from 'Goons'.
“Defendant Soulja Boy authorized Megan thee Stallion and GloRilla to sample [his song,]”, write the lawyers of Plies. “[Wanna Be] incorporates substantial elements of the copyrighted material on which “Me & My Goons” is based, without authorization by plaintiffs.”
“Wanna Be,” released by Megan and GloRilla in early April, debuted at No. 11 on the Hot 100. A remix, featuring Cardi, was released in late May. The song features a prominent sample of Soulja Boy's 2010 track “Pretty Boy Swag”, which spent 16 weeks on the chart that summer.
five (Algernod Washington), known for his 2007 singles “Shawty” and “Hypnotized,” names all four stars (Megan Pitt, Gloria Woods, Belkalis Almanzar and Deandre Way) as defendants in the lawsuit, as well as various companies and record labels allegedly involved in the song.
Representatives for the defendants did not immediately return requests for comment.
Lawsuits like the one Plies filed Wednesday — alleging that a legal sample contained an unlicensed sample — sound strange, but they're not uncommon. In the modern music industry, all samples on major releases are strictly redacted, and even marginal jams are often licensed to avoid the risk of litigation. But the copyrighted material that appears in the sample songs can be more difficult to identify.
Last month, a lawsuit filed by Barry White's estate claimed that Future and Metro Boomin's “Like That” came from a 1980s hip-hop song that had ripped off White's music. And in May, a little-known New Orleans group sued Beyoncé for the same thing over a Big Freedia sample that appeared on “Break My Soul,” though they dropped the case several months later. White's case remains pending. The case against Beyoncé was quickly dropped.
Read the full lawsuit here:
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/plies-sues-megan-thee-stallion-glorilla-soulja-boy-sample-lawsuit/
