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Canadian rapper Drake could face a second lawsuit from Jamaican producer Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Browne over his latest track, Blue Green Red.
The song allegedly interpolates lyrics and melody from Dancehall artist Tiger‘s 1991 hit When without permission.
Blue Green Red was initially shared last week as part of Drake’s “100 Gigs for Your Headtop” dump of unreleased music and behind-the-scenes content, per HipHopDX. It was then officially released on Saturday (August 10) via OVO/Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc
Clevie, who produced When as part of the duo Steely & Clevie, told DancehallMag on Monday, “SONY/EMI called on Friday and said they were seeking clearance for When but they did not send the song. We can’t clear a song without hearing it. But Drake went ahead and leaked it before. The record company blocked Drake’s release and then went ahead and released the song over the weekend without us giving any clearance. Because they did this before the fact, that can mean problems.”
He added, “They used the melody just in a section, and it was repeated twice. So this is a clear infringement.”
The interpolation is evident in Drake’s post-chorus line, “What the clock inna London? Yeah, Big Ben,” which echoes Tiger’s original lyric, “Weh di clock inna London name? (Big Ben).”
This potential legal issue comes as Steely & Clevie Productions is already involved in an ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit filed in a California federal court against over 160 artists and record labels, including Drake and UMG. In that suit, Drake’s One Dance with Wizkid and Kyla and his Mía collab with Bad Bunny are among the over 1,800 tracks accused of infringing on the duo’s 1989 riddim, Fish Market.
Clevie acknowledged that it is common for music companies to wait until the 11th hour before seeking clearance on songs.
“They often wait till the last minute to seek clearance. But we need to know the frequency of how the work is used, so that we can know the level of infringement to evaluate what is reasonable in terms of copyright share.
Efforts were made to get to us, but it is the record company’s responsibility to clear the song,” he said.
Interestingly, Clevie shared he found out on Monday (August 12) that Usher and Nicki Minaj had previously used When in their 2014 song, She Came II Give It II U. “There is a three year statute of limitations on songs but there is a non-discovery rule if you can prove that you never heard the song, and sometimes a court will accept that,” he said.
Minaj had previously cleared a sample of Sasha’s Kill the B-tch for her single, Beam Me Up Scotty with Steely & Clevie’s publishers.
Clevie explained the finer points of music publishing as they relate to the musical composition of songs and authorship.
“When we make music and an artist writes songs on a rhythm, people often think that it is the author who is the only one to receive recompensation, it is not so. When they infringe on a song, it affects the composition and authorship of the song as it relates to the share of the publishing rights. With When, Steely and Clevie built the rhythm, but we also compose lyrics, we are also authors,” Clevie explained.
Efforts to get a comment from artist Rhialty, his daughter, proved futile. He is signed to Dubplate and Greensleeves Publishing, which is managed by producer Gussie Clarke.
The 64-year-old artist was known for his distinctive growl and manic delivery, which powered a string of huge hits in the late 1980s, including songs such as Wanga Gut, Puppy Love, Bam Bam, and Ram Dancehall. He appeared to fall off the scene for a few years.
