NLE Choppa is being sued by Atlanta legend Kilo Ali for copyright infringement in a suit filed in California Central District Court last week (June 24), according to Music Business Worldwide, which obtained the court documents.
Ali, an Atlanta-based rapper who released a string of relatively successful albums throughout the ’90s and worked closely with members of the Dungeon Family crew, including Goodie Mob’s Cee-Lo Green and Outkast’s Big Boi, as well as George Clinton of Parliament and Lil Jon, says Choppa’s 2020 single “Make Em Say,” which features Latto (Mulatto), illegally samples Ali’s own 1997 “Love In Ya Mouth,” using the same “flow and pitch” in the post-chorus.
“Love In Ya Mouth,” which features Big Boi, featured on Kilo Ali’s 1997 Interscope debut Organized Bass, and in the documents filed in the suit, Ali says his music has “proven inspirational to much of the rap music emerging from the South, particularly Atlanta.” Meanwhile, Choppa and Latto’s song appears on Choppa’s Warner Music debut Top Shotta. The lawsuit argues Choppa’s song features “a distinctive sample of Kilo Ali’s melodic vocal chorus from the sound recording embodying the Original Work.” Ali wants “all gains, profits, and advantages derived by Defendants as a result of their unfair trade practices and unfair competition” by way of restitution and has included Warner Records Senior Vice President of A&R Norva Denton and Warner Music Group in the lawsuit.
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