DaBaby is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit over his No. 1 hit “Rockstar.”
Rolling Stonereports the North Carolina rapper has been sued by a Florida producer, who claims DaBaby took the beat from his song “Selena” to create his Roddy Ricch-featuring single “Rockstar.”
The producer, real name Chraig Mims, who performs as JuJu Beatz, filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Friday, and names DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, and producer Sethinthekitchen, as well as additional defendants Caroline Diaz, Warner Chappell, Universal Music Group, and DaBaby’s publishing company Project Dreams Entertainment.
“Plaintiff provided his musical composition known as Selena to Defendants in 2019, who then used Selena to create a sound recording entitled ‘Rockstar,’” the complaint states. “Defendant Diaz and DaBaby’s representative accessed Plaintiff’s Selena on more than 40 occasions in late 2019 and early 2020.”
The lawsuit adds: “On, or around April of 2020, Defendants DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, and Portaro released, through the other named Defendants, a sound recording titled ‘Rockstar’ that included many compositional elements from Plaintiff’s Selena composition.”
Though DaBaby, Ricch, Sethinthekitchen, Diaz, Warner Chappell, and Universal Music Group have not yet responded to the lawsuit, Mims’ attorney told Rolling Stone, “It is unfortunate that these types of situations occur almost daily within the music industry. The unequal balance of power and money in the industry is sometimes used to silence the real individuals who truly deserve a piece of the action and money.”
“It is too easy for the labels and mainstream artists and producers to cut out the ones who really matter the most. It is disheartening because there is enough money in the industry to change everyone’s lives but the money usually ends up in the hands of the few,” they added.
Mims is requesting statutory damages of $150,000 per infringement.
