Lil Uzi Vert is being accused of ripping off one in every of his largest hits, “I Just Wanna Rock,” in a brand new $110 million copyright lawsuit filed in federal court docket by a Rochester, New York artist who claims Uzi’s 2022 anthem borrows practically all of its DNA from his earlier observe “Pain and Pleasure.”

Sharrief Okay. Bouchet, recognized professionally as Rawyal or Rief Rawyal, alleges that “I Just Wanna Rock” — launched October 17, 2022 — “copied the original hook, melody, and theme” of his document, significantly the signature chant “When I rock ah ah.”

A forensic musicologist’s report connected to the submitting discovered a 93-97% derivation between the 2 songs. The evaluation, performed by Musicologize founder Brian McBrearty, cited shared tempo, construction, and rhythmic patterns — particularly the an identical “ah” vocal chants and the practically indistinguishable lyrical phrasing across the phrase “rock.”

McBrearty’s report famous that each tracks “reside in the core band of ‘allegro,’between 130–150 beats per minute, and employ the same drum pattern and rhythmic syncopation, known as’ tresillo,’a hallmark of reggaeton and dance beats.”

He added that each songs function “first-person, present-tense declarations that end with the identical word ‘rock,’forming a parallel lyrical structure.”

In “Pain and Pleasure,” Rawyal sings, “Pain and pleasure when I rock, ah, ah,” whereas Uzi’s model chants, “I just wanna rock, ah, ah, ah, ah.” McBrearty concluded these moments type “the hook, or the heart, of the respective works.”

Rief Rawyal says he launched “Pain and Pleasure” on August 15, 2022, and later noticed his model suppressed on Meta platforms after Uzi’s document dropped that October.

He claims that his uploads had been repeatedly muted or faraway from Instagram and Facebook as “Just Wanna Rock” gained reputation throughout TikTok, Fortnite, and within the trailer for the Blue Beetle film.

The lawsuit claims Uzi and Atlantic Records had direct entry to Rief Rawyal’s materials. The rapper says he’d been in touch with Lanre Gaba, now president of Hip-Hop, R&B and Global music at Atlantic Records, since 2012.

He offered the label govt with unique songs, together with music recordsdata and demos, throughout that interval.

He argues that this established a “clear institutional pathway” for his unreleased materials to flow into internally, probably resulting in Uzi or his producers acquiring and recreating parts of his beat and hook construction.

The swimsuit names Lil Uzi Vert, Atlantic Records, Generation Now, Roc Nation, and Warner music Group as defendants. Rief Rawyal argues that the businesses used his creation to safe profitable licensing offers with TikTok, Meta, and synthetic intelligence corporations.

He’s demanding greater than $110 million in damages, citing misplaced streaming income, sync and licensing offers, and reputational hurt. The submitting additionally seeks retroactive publishing credit score, an possession share and an injunction to cease additional use of the music.

Rief Rawyal, a former Jive Records artist and U.S. Marine veteran, says Pain and Pleasure was meant to mark his comeback after years away from music.

He insists that Atlantic had entry to his work and that its subsequent reappearance in a world hit robbed him of the popularity and industrial alternatives he was poised to regain.

The lawsuit is the newest authorized motion the rapper is going through. He is presently being sued by a Jane Doe assistant who claims the rapper harassed her at work and created a poisonous surroundings.

He is also being sued for beating a man on a Manhattan street, smashing the guy’s phone to pieces and then throwing hundred-dollar bills at him to humiliate him.

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