Childish Gambino‘s “This Is America” was one of the most talked about videos of 2018. It has over 772 million views to date and as most famous musicians would agree, a song is bound to get hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit once it becomes popular enough. “This Is America” is apparently no different. After previously facing plagiarism claims about his video, Childish Gambino is reportedly being sued over the song.
According to TMZ, Emelike Nwosuocha, who raps under the moniker Kidd West, is the source of the “This Is America” copyright lawsuit. Per the report, Nwosuocha uploaded his song “Made In America” to SoundCloud in 2016 before registering it with the US Copyright Office in May of 2017.
Nwosuocha is now claiming Childish Gambino ripped him off, saying the hook of “This Is America” is “unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical” to his own track. Gambino’s track features the lines, “This is America/ Guns in my area/ I got the strap/ I gotta carry ’em.” But Nwosuocha says Gambino’s lyrics are strikingly similar to his own, “Made in America/ Flex on the radio/ Made me a terrorist/ Pessimistic n***as/ You should just cherish this.”
As a result, Nwosuocha is reportedly suing Gambino, the co-writers of “This is America,” the record label, Roc Nation, and even Young Thug who is credited for singing the backup vocals on the track.
Listen to West’s “Made In America” and Gambino’s “This Is America” above.
Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
