Nicki Minaj is in the spotlight again, and not for a good reason. A lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles federal court by Tracy Chapman against Nicki Minaj last week alleging copyright infringement. Chapman claims Minaj used lyrics and vocal melody from her 1988 song “Baby, Can I Hold You” without permission in Minaj’s unreleased song “Sorry.”

 

Minaj’s track “Sorry” was not included on Minaj’s album but Chapman alleges the “Super Bass” rapper gave it to a Funkmaster Flex, a well-known New York disc jockey, who played the song on HOT 97, a local hip-hop radio station. Furthermore, Chapman claims the DJ promoted the song’s release on various social media channels.

 

This occurred reportedly after Chapman denied multiple requests to sample her song in Minaj’s album “Queen.” Minaj tweeted on August 1 that she “had no clue” that “Sorry” contained a sample of the song. That tweet and subsequent tweets pleading to Chapman and her fans has since been taken down. The song was originally supposed to appear on her album “Queen” in August.  

   

Chapman has won four Grammys over her 20-year career. “Our Bright Future” was her last album.  It was released in 2008. She has a net worth of around 8 million dollars. She is best known for her 1988 single “Fast Car.”      

 

The New York Times reports that Chapman is suing for “unspecified damages and wants to prevent Minaj from releasing “Sorry” commercially.” The suit would require Minaj and her team to bar any third parties from using the song and would prevent her from releasing the song to the public. “Sorry” is no longer available on streaming services as of this writing.

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Multiple news outlets have requested comment from Minaj’s representatives. None have received a response.

       

This isn’t the first time Minaj has been the center of a lawsuit. Just earlier this year, a Texas man, Christopher R. O’Connor claimed “Side-by-Side” strikingly resembled his song called “J5 (T6).”  He goes on to say that someone from Universal Music Group Recordings discovered it and got Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj to copy it. He’s suing UMG for royalties in that suit -- not Minaj or Grande directly.  That suit is ongoing.

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Back in 2014, Minaj was sued by stylist Maher Jridi for failing to return expensive wardrobe items that were provided to Minaj for Paris Fashion week in 2013.   

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Despite all this negative publicity lately, her fourth album “Queen” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and 185,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release. There is no question why she has been called “the queen of rap.” Bringing in roughly $75 million per year and being only ten years into her career, there is no question she has been wildly successful.  

And though the center of various legal complaints, she continues to perform sold-out shows and wow the world with her performances. “The queen of rap” is famous for her talent and notoriety in many ways whether she wants to or not.