In his lawsuit, Bishop David Paul Moten slams the rapper and the music industry for how they 'willfully and egregiously [sample] sound recordings of others without consent or permission.'
- May 4, 2022
AceShowbiz - Kanye West has been taken to court over his "Donda" track. The billionaire emcee is being sued by a Texas pastor for allegedly using his sermon on "Come to Life" without his permission.
Filing the lawsuit was Bishop David Paul Moten. In court documents obtained by TMZ, Moten claimed his sermon is used for "70 seconds of the 5-minute, 10-second track," which equals to more than 20 percent of the song.
The pastor stated that his voice and sermon are used both in the intro and looped throughout. He went on to slam Ye and the music industry for how they "willfully and egregiously [sample] sound recordings of others without consent or permission."
In the lawsuit, Moten listed UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings and G.O.O.D Music as defendants. He is now asking for unspecified damages from all parties.
Ye dropped "Come to Life" in August 2021. He also gave the track a music video treatment which was taken from his third "Donda" listening party at Chicago's Soldier Field. The clip sees the emcee setting himself on fire inside a replica of his childhood home.
As the clip transitions, Ye's now-ex-wife Kim Kardashian shows up in a wedding dress with her long braided ponytail under her veil. Once the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" alum arrives in front of the father of her four children, he's seen smiling under the dimmed light.
"You know where to find me, they cannot define me/ So they crucify me, how so fazed when I leave?/ Come and purify me, come and sanctify me," Ye sings. "You the air that I breathe, the ultra-ultralight beam/ Brought a gift to Northie, all she want was Nikes/ This is not about me, God is still alive, so I'm free/ Floatin' on a silver lining, floatin' on a silver lining/ So when I'm free, I'm free."
