The estate of the deceased Donna Summer is the most recent entity to decline approval for a sample on Kanye West‘s latest album. This decision follows Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne’s criticism of the rapper for his unauthorised use of music earlier this week.
Release on February 10th, 2024, West’s latest project, Vultures 1, is a collaborative effort under the moniker of ‘¥$’, a super duo with Ty Dolla Sign. The album serves as a follow-up to both artists’ respective 2021 releases, Donda and Cheers to the Best Memories.
According to a story post by the official Donna Summer Instagram account, which was screenshotted, West’s team requested and were denied permission to use the singer’s 1977 disco classic ‘I Feel Love’ on Vultures 1. However, the post claims that he went ahead and used it anyway as an interpolation on the album track “GOOD (DON’T DIE)’.
“Kanye West…asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song ‘I Feel Love,’ he was denied,” the estate wrote in their short statement. “He changed the words, had someone re-sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!!!”
Summer’s estate also tagged Sharon Osbourne in their story, the wife and manager of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy, who both spoke out earlier this week about West using an unauthorised sample of a live version of ‘Iron Man’ on Vultures 1. She claimed they had already sent a cease and desist notice to West’s legal team and would pursue further action if he continued to use the music.
Osbourne’s reluctance to work with the rapper centres around the repeated accusations of antisemitism West has faced recently, which saw his brand partnerships terminated and his cultural relevance wain. In an interview with TMZ on February 9th, Sharon, who identifies as Jewish, said: “Kanye fucked with the wrong Jew this time.”
Following the Osbournes’ warnings, West has reportedly removed the ‘Iron Man’ sample from the album.
