Ghanaian hiphop singer and rapper Michael Darko, better known as Obrafor, has filed a lawsuit against Canadian/American rapper Drake, seeking $10 million in damages for using his song without permission.
Obrafour’s lawyer claims that Drake used an unpermitted sample from Obrafour’s 2003 single, “Ohene Remix.”
According to the lawsuit, a member of Drake’s team sent two “Clearance Emails” to Obrafour that would approve the sample in the week before Drake’s album, “Honestly, Nevermind,” was released, but Obrafour had not yet responded to either email when Drake suddenly dropped his album within hours of announcing it.
The lawsuit alleges that the infringement was so direct that the audio of the sampled phrase in the infringing work contains little or no audible manipulation, processing, or other alteration to its original character as heard in the copyrighted work.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for all profits and damages in categories attributable to the infringement, including album sales, downloads, digital revenue, sponsorships, and concerts that Drake performed following the release of “Calling My Name.”
Despite Obrafour never clearing the sample, the infringing work has already been streamed millions of times on various platforms.