UPDATE, 8:25 a.m. PT — So this is interesting! Per TMZ, the track Ye played in that Miami club did indeed have a version of BSB’s Everybody ringing through it. However, the lyrics of the chorus were actually sung by different voices — and NOT the guys in the iconic boy band. So, it’s possible that the Yeezy mogul could skirt by any potential legal licensing problems through that loophole. Hmmm…
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Kanye West has been making headlines lately for all the wrong reasons… and now, he’s got another problem on his plate.
The Donda rapper may have just held a controversial album listening party for his forthcoming project Vultures, but his KKK-style hood from the party is NOT the only issue brewing with the albim. There’s also the question of sampling an unlicensed track — from the Backstreet Boys!!
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The first track on Ye’s new album is supposedly titled Everybody, just like the classic BSB hit from 1997! And that’s not an accident!
At the listening party, fans heard the original pop song from the boy band play in the background — both lyrics and chorus — before Ye’s collaborator Ty Dolla $ign takes over with his own interpretation of the lyrics.
But here’s the problem: according to a TMZ report published on Tuesday, insiders connected to BSB say Ye did not get a collective OK from the boy band to sample their song!! Neither Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, Kevin Richardson, AJ McLean, nor Nick Carter — nor their legal teams — apparently ever signed off on Ye being allowed to take a cut of their 26-year-old hit single. And now that he has, well, the legal ramifications could be swift!
Of course, we don’t technically know if Everybody is going to be on Ye’s forthcoming album. But it was on the track list! And the sample definitely played at the listening party! So it’s not a huge jump to assume it’ll be on there. Frankly, it’s not a huge jump to think Ye might completely ignore everyone telling him he needs permission!
As TMZ also notes, it’s unclear whether Ye ever even reached out to BSB about the track. While the outlet knows the boy band never signed off on Kim Kardashian‘s ex being able to sample their song, it’s still not known whether he did reach out and was denied (ouch!), or he never even asked in the first place (not smart!). Either way, it’s not good.
[Image via MEGA/WENN.]
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