Why did Boogie Down Productions sue Kanye West? Vultures rapper settles 'Life of the Party' copyright lawsuit after two years

Phase One Network, the group that owns copyrights to Boogie Down Productions, sued Kanye West for using an uncleared sample from the rap group's 1986 song South Bronx in his song Life of the Party in November 2022.

Almost two years after the lawsuit was filed, Kanye has reached a settlement on August 19, as per court documents obtained by Billboard. Attorneys from both sides agreed to dismissing Kanye from the case and each side paying their own legal bills.

Life of the Party is part of the rapper's 2021 album Donda and was in collaboration with rapper and musician Andre 3000.

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More about Boogie Down Productions' lawsuit against Kanye West

In November 2021, Phase One Network, a group that owns copyright to the rap group Boogie Down Productions sued rapper Kanye West for unauthorised use of a sample for a song in his 2021 Donda album.

As per TMZ at the time, court documents claimed that altough Kanye and his team initially reached out to clear the sample, an agreement was not reached and Kanye used the sample anyway. As per a Phase One Network lawyer,

"Despite the fact that final clearance for use of 'South Bronx' in the infringing track was never authorized, the infringing track was nevertheless reproduced, sold, distributed, publicly performed and exploited."

West's attorney, in response to the allegations, cited a 2006 documentary called The Art of 16 Bars where Boogie Down Productions founder KRS-One publicly promised future rappers that "you will not get sued" for sampling the rap groups' catalogue. KRS in the documentary can be heard saying, "I give to all MCs my entire catalogue."

However, Phase One Network noted that KRS didn't own the music to give it to anyone.

Life of the Party was first leaked by Drake in September 2021 during his feud with West. One month post the leak, Kanye released the track exclusively on his $200 Stem Player.

Stem Player is an audio remix device and music streaming platform developed by Kano Computing, a British Technology Company in collaboration with Kanye West. In the 2022 lawsuit, the company also noted Kano Computing as a defendanct.

Kanye later included Life of the Party as a bonus song in the deluxe edition of Donda. The track was a hit right after it was released and Phase One claimed that the track helped boost sales of Kanye's Stem Player.

As per Hiphopdx 11,000 units were sold in the first 24 hours of the track's release generating roughly $2.2 million. Phase One was earlier seeking a share of the profits with the block of any further use of the sample.

Kanye West has more than a dozen cases filed over claims of unlicensed sampling or interpolating, in his entire case, including the lawsuit battle with Donna Summer. In May, 2024, the rapper was sued by a Texas pastor, Bishop David Paul, for use of his voice in Come to Life.