Hip-hop star Kendric Lamar and The Weekend are facing a lawsuit for reportedly stealing music for their song “Pray for Me.”
Yeasayer sues the Weekend and Lamar for infringement
Defunct Brooklyn based rock band Yeasayer is suing the two and other regarding the soundtrack collaboration “Pray for Me” used in Black Panther. Yeasayer indicates that the song infringes on their 2007 song “Sunrise.” The band which broke up in December 2019 states that the soundtrack has some unaccredited parts of “Sunrise” which are described as a distinctive choral performance that comprises of male voices singing in high registers, with pulsating vibrato and created through exclusive audio post-processing.
Yeasayer indicates that Lamar and the Weekend slightly changed part of “Sunrise” and made it be a significant part of “Pray for Me.” The accused are said to have concealed the infringement and used the altered part in the soundtrack up to 8 times. According to Yearsayer, the stolen material is easily recognizable as theirs.
This was easily recognizable by fans who felt that “Pray for Me” had some part of “Sunrise.” One fan indicated that they forgot to mentioned, or they missed the Yeasayer part in ”pray for Me.” Another fan indicated that they heard Yeasayer on the soundtrack.
Yeasayer seeks an injunction to stop sales and airplay of “Pray for Me”
“Pray for Me” producers Frank Dukes and Doc McKinney have also been named in the suit as defendants. The petition filed in a federal court in New York on Monday accuses the producers and record labels of extracting their vocal performance and altering it before using it in the soundtrack. The petitioners indicate that their snippet in the soundtrack features two of “Sunrise” verses which include the final one.
The band is seeking all the profits realized from “Pray for Me” as well as damages. Equally, they have sought an injunction to stop future sales and airplay of the song. So far there have been no comments on the matter from representatives of Lamar, the Weekend and Yeasayer.
