Kanye West sued by Alice Merton over unauthorised sample in ‘Vultures 2’

It comes after similar lawsuits were filed by Ozzy Osbourne and Donna Summer’s estate The post Kanye West sued by Alice Merton over unauthorised sample in ‘Vultures 2’ appeared first on NME.

Mar 27, 2025 - 14:06

Kanye West sued by Alice Merton over unauthorised sample in ‘Vultures 2’

Kanye West and Alice Merton

Kanye West is facing a lawsuit from German singer-songwriter Alice Merton over a sample of one of her songs being featured in his ‘Vultures 2’ album without permission.

The singer-songwriter is best recognised for her 2017 hit song ‘No Roots’, and has reportedly filed a new lawsuit against the rapper while in California on Tuesday (March 25).

In the suit, she claims that Ye sampled her 2022 song ‘Blindside’ without permission. The use of the sample allegedly featured in his song with Kid Cudi called ‘Gun To My Head’, which appeared on his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, ‘Vultures 2’.

Merton first became aware of the sample usage after the rapper previewed the track at a listening party in December 2023. She claims that he did not ask for permission beforehand, and only reached out for clearance in February 2024.

At the time, BMG – Merton’s publisher – did not give permission and later explained that the use of the sample was denied as West’s “values are contrary to our values,” (via Stereogum). They also drew attention to the fact that Merton is a descendant of Holocaust survivors and is “unwilling to compromise her personal beliefs and wanted not to be associated with” West after he repeatedly shared that he identifies as a Nazi.

While the song did not feature on the initial tracklist for ‘Vultures 2’, it did appear on the album’s digital deluxe edition.

Kanye West. CREDIT: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Elsewhere in the filing, Merton has claimed that the song being omitted from the album led to her receiving threats from Ye’s fans, and accused West’s team of ignoring a cease and desist letter from BMG.

This isn’t the first time that West has found himself in hot water over unauthorised samples on his ‘Vultures’ albums. Last year he sparked backlash from Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, who took to social media to call out the rapper for sampling one of his songs without permission.

After learning that West had looped a sample of the Black Sabbath song ‘Iron Man’ into one of his songs on the album, the metal icon hit back in a lengthy post where he called the rapper an “antisemite”.

Sharon Osbourne subsequently lashed out at West, saying he “fucked with the wrong Jew this time”, and after a cease and desist was sent to West, the rapper removed the sample – replacing it with fuzzy guitar feedback.

As well as that, last February a copyright infringement lawsuit was filed against both West and Ty Dolla $ign by Donna Summer’s husband Bruce Sudano, claiming that the two rappers did not have permission to sample the 1977 disco hit ‘I Feel Love’ on their album.

The sample featured on the song ‘Good (Don’t Die)’, and after the filing was issued, the song was removed from Spotify and other streaming services. It was then shared that West and Summer’s estate finally reached a settlement over the alleged “illegal” use in June.

Kanye West attends the 67th GRAMMY Awards. CREDIT: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

In other Kanye West news, the rapper recently sparked widespread criticism after he shared a series of offensive posts about Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s children.

He also dropped his new album ‘Bully’ as a short film and released the new song, ‘Lonely Roads Still Go To Sunshine’ on X/Twitter.

In the post for the latter, the rapper claimed it featured disgraced rap mogul Diddy, as well as West’s own 11-year-old daughter, North. The song sparked “war” between Kanye and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, with whom she shares North.

Before then, he dropped a string of highly controversial posts which saw him rescind his apology to the Jewish community for his past antisemitic remarks, and go on to declare himself “a Nazi”.

More recently, he teased the return of his Sunday Service choir events and posted a picture of a KKK robe on social media.

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