Ice Spice settles plagiarism lawsuit regarding hit song ‘In Ha Mood’
In January, Ice Spice was sued by Duval ‘D.Chamberz’ Chamberlain and Kenley ‘Kass the Producer’ Carmenate, who both claimed that her track, ‘In Ha Mood’, which was a hit song on her Like…? EP, was a stolen version of their creation, ‘In That Mood’.
In July 2022, D. Chamberz and Kass the Producer, released ‘In That Mood’ as part of D. Chamberz’s album Boom Bap 2 Drill Rap. The two artists didn’t just sue Ice Spice for stealing their song; they also brought forward a lawsuit against her producer, RiotUSA, Universal Music Group, Capitol Records, and 10K Projects. According to some recently released documents, a settlement has been agreed upon outside of court.
The documents were filed in New York federal court and state that both parties have agreed to resolve the lawsuit before matters progress further. The specific terms on which the lawsuit was settled were not specified, but it was confirmed that each side would “bear [their] own costs, attorneys’ fees, and expenses.”
D.Chamberz believes there was ample opportunity for Ice Spice to hear the song when it came out, stating it was initially previewed on Instagram on August 8th, 2021, and was available to stream for a two-week window at the start of 2022. After that, it was released officially in the summer of 2022 on the album Boom Bap 2 Drill Rap.
As well as being available online, the Coney Island rapper states that he will have performed the song live in New York on 36 occasions. He also said that radio stations regularly played ‘In That Mood’, and it received plenty of air time on local stations such as Hot 97 and Power 105.1.
Both D. Chamberz and Kass the Producer highlighted the similarities between ‘In That Mood’ and ‘In Ha Mood’. In addition to the obvious similarities in the titles, both tracks use the same drill style of rapping, have similar choruses, and similar hook lines. The tempo and rhythm of the songs are also almost identical.
It’s unknown whether the two artists managed to get any kind of settlement from their lawsuit, but we know that the case won’t go any further.
Ice Spice released her first full-length LP, Y2K, in July, 2024. It hasn’t been the commercial success that many expected, given the rapper’s early viral fame. That being said, her hard-nosed drill sound is present throughout the record, and it doesn’t stray too far from what fans would have expected.