Nicki Minaj is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit from singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman over a sample on the rapper’s unreleased song Sorry.
Nicki initially stalled the release of her latest album Queen by a week back in August, so she could officially get Chapman’s OK to use a clip of her hit Baby Can I Hold You, but the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement and Nicki was forced to leave her love song with former partner Nas off the album.
Unfortunately for Minaj, before she pulled the track, New York DJ Funkmaster Flex got hold of a copy and played it, prompting Minaj to post the now-deleted tweet “Sis said no”, suggesting Chapman didn’t like the idea of her hit being used on a rap track.
According to The Blast, Nicki’s team first reached out to Chapman in June to seek permission to sample her song. Chapman denied their request, but Minaj’s team wouldn’t give up and approached the Fast Car singer to set up a meeting between her and Nicki, who even sought out advice from her fans on social media over the drama, asking them if she should stall her album and wait for Tracy’s OK.
“So there’s a record on Queen that features 1 of the greatest of all-time,” Minaj tweeted at the time. “Had no clue it samples the legendary Tracy Chapman – do I keep my date and lose the record? Or do I lose the record and keep my date? Do we push #Queen back 1 week? Ugh, I’m torn y’all help.”
After the track was leaked, Nicki released her new album without the Chapman-sampled track.
And now Chapman is keen to keep Sorry off the air, suing Nicki for copyright infringement. She is also seeking an injunction prohibiting Minaj from using the song again and requesting unspecified damages.