Legendary Musicians Slam Kanye West for Unauthorized Samples in New Album
Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne and the estate of the late singer, Donna Summer, have recently publicly accused Kanye West of utilizing recordings of their music without permission for the rapper’s latest album. West’s album “Vultures 1,” a collaboration with singer and rapper Ty Dolla $ign, was released on streaming services early Saturday morning after being previewed at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday night.
Osbourne took issue with a song titled “Carnival,” which allegedly sampled a clip from a 1983 live performance of Black Sabbath’s iconic song “Iron Man.” In a social media post on Friday, Osbourne expressed his discontent by stating that West, also known as Ye, had requested permission to sample a section of the live performance but was refused due to Osbourne’s beliefs that West is an antisemite who has caused significant heartache to many individuals.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee further claimed that West went ahead and used the sample anyway during his album listening party, prompting Osbourne to publicly disassociate himself from West. It was noted that West previously sampled “Iron Man” in his 2010 song “Hell of a Life,” although a cleared and uncleared section of the sample appeared in different versions of the “Vultures 1” album.
Donna Summer’s estate also alleged that West used her hit song “I Feel Love” from 1977 without permission in the track “Good (Don’t Die)” on his album. The estate claimed that although West sought permission to use the song, it was denied. Despite this, West seemingly used the song with alterations, leading to claims of copyright infringement from Summer’s estate.
Sharon Osbourne, wife of Ozzy Osbourne and a prominent television personality, also expressed the family’s disapproval of any association with Kanye West in response to the music controversy. The sampling of “I Feel Love” has been previously featured in Beyoncé’s 2022 song “Summer Renaissance.”
Beginning in 2022, West faced severe consequences for making a series of antisemitic statements, resulting in suspensions of his social media accounts and severed partnerships with Adidas, Gap, and more. The fallout from his actions was so significant that West was banned from CBS’ “The Late Show” and had his honorary degree rescinded by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Despite this, West’s social media accounts have now been reinstated.
This is not the first time West has faced issues with uncleared samples on his projects. On his debut album, “The College Dropout,” Lauryn Hill refused to clear her song “Mystery of Iniquity” for use, leading to Chicago singer Syleena Johnson providing vocals instead.
Overall, the accusations of unauthorized sampling from Ozzy Osbourne and Donna Summer’s estate highlight the ongoing challenges and controversies surrounding the use of copyrighted music in the music industry, particularly in the era of digital streaming and social media.
