Hopefully Kanye West will be able to keep to his recently pledged six month vow of silence, because the rapper is currently being sued for a vocal sample used in his hit song, "Bound 2," The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Ricky Spicer, former singer of the soul group The Ponderosa Twins Plus One, filed a lawsuit against West, Roc-a-Fella Records, Universal Music Group and Island Def Jam Music Group, seeking "an injunction and damages for alleged violations of New York civil right of publicity law (section 51), unjust enrichment and common law copyright infringement" (THR) in reference to the altered vocal singing, "Bound, bound / Bound to fall in love," heard throughout the song.
Spicer and The Ponderosa Twins Plus One sang "Bound" when he was just 12-years-old, going on to perform with Gladys Knight and James Brown. According to the suit, while Spicer was part of the group, he "was not fairly compensated...for all of his accomplishments."
West also samples "Aeroplane (Reprise)" by Wee and the repeated "Uh-huh, honey" from Brenda Lee's "Sweet Nothin'."
While Kanye West is no stranger to sample lawsuits, having been taken to court over samples used in "Gold Digger" and alleged illegal samplings used on his various mixtapes, he nor his rep have spoken out about the "Bound 2" allegations, and it is unclear whether he will address it openly. During his final Yeezus performance in Toronto on Dec. 23, the rapper announced plans to focus on career, music and family next year and to "stop talking s**t."
