American rapper, Childish Gambino is being sued over claims he stole the song “This is America” from another rapper.
TMZ reported that one Emelike Nwosuocha who performs under the name Kidd Wes alleged that Gambino’s ubiquitous hit is a ripoff of his own song “Made in America,” which is said to have first been released on SoundCloud in late 2016 and on YouTube a couple months later where people could listen to it for free.
The rapper also claimed he registered the song with the U.S Copyright Office in May 2017, and it was set to be the lead single on his upcoming album.
Wes, according to court documents alleges the hook of Gambino’s song is “unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical” to his song.
The musician and actor, real name Donald Glover released the track in 2018. It went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 and earned four Grammys, including for Record and Song of the Year and Best Music Video.
Gambino’s co-manager Fam Udeorji previously addressed other attempted ripoff claims back in 2018 by providing a brief timeline of how “This Is America” came into fruition. Fam had claimed the origin of “This Is America,” actually dates back to 2015. He also said Gambino’s team has the Pro Tools files to prove it.
