Dallas

Texas Pastor Sues Kanye West for Allegedly Sampling His Sermon Without Permission

The lawsuit says more than a minute of Bishop David Paul Moten's sermon can be heard on the track "Come to Life" on the Grammy-nominated "Donda" album

File: Kanye West attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 9, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California.
Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair

Rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye, is being sued by a Texas pastor after he claimed parts of a sermon he gave were sampled without his permission.

Bishop David Paul Moten claims that 70 seconds of his material were used on the track "Come to Life" from West's Grammy-nominated album "Donda."

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Moten is also suing G.O.O.D Music, Def Jam Recordings and UMG Recordings over the use of his sermon in the song.

The "Donda" album was released in late August 2021, and the track "Come to Life" was produced by West, Jeff Bhasker, Warryn Campbell, Mark Williams, and Raul Cubina.

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According to Moten's attorneys, the track is approximately five minutes and 10 seconds in length, and approximately one minute and 10 seconds of the song is sampled directly from Moten's sermon.

The sample appears to run on a loop during the pre-chorus and chorus throughout the song, Moten's attorneys said.

Moten's attorneys also alleged that West has demonstrated a pattern of "willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission."

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