Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign‘s track “Good (Don’t Die)” has been pulled from Vultures 1 on Spotify over a dispute relating to its sampling of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.”
The album was only released on Saturday (February 10) but the track was removed from Spotify on Wednesday (February 14). However, it currently remains available on other streaming services such as Apple Music.
AD LOADING...
The hook of the song, which also features singer J. Rey Soul, prominently samples Summer’s 1977 disco anthem, with the singer’s estate taking issue with its use.
Summer’s estate said on Instagram shortly after Vultures 1 dropped: “Kanye West asked permission to use Donna Summer song, ‘I Feel Love,’ [but] he was denied. He changed the words, had someone re-sing it, or used AI but it’s ‘I Feel Love’…copyright infringement!”
At this stage, it is not known whether Kanye used the sample without permission, employed artificial intelligence or hired another artist to sing the part as he did with “All Falls Down” from The College Dropout.
That song initially sampled Lauryn Hill’s “Mystery of Iniquity” but Ye could not get clearance to use the track on the album. He instead hired Syleena Johnson to re-sing the portion of the song he wanted to sample.
AD LOADING...
Kanye West was denied use of the song by the band, with Ozzy Osbourne later releasing a statement saying: “@KANYEWEST ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A [SECTION] OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘WAR PIG’ FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS.
“REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY. HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM LISTENING PARTY LAST NIGHT. I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN!”
His wife Sharon Osbourne also addressed Kanye’s request to use the sample: “We get so many requests for these songs. And when we saw that request, we just said no way… We’ve been in touch with his team … And it’s also an issue of having respect for another artist.”
AD LOADING...
West eventually swapped out the original sample for a section of his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy song “Hell of a Life,” which was already cleared to sample “Iron Man.”
