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Roc Nation artist Victory Boyd has recently filed a lawsuit against Travis Scott, SZA, and Future, accusing the trio of ripping off her unreleased song to create the chart-topping musical number Telekinesis. As per the lawsuit, Scott, SZA, and Future lifted key parts of the tune and lyrics from Victory Boyd's 2019 track Like The Way It Sounds.
Released on June 28, 2023, Telekinesis is the penultimate track from Travis Scott's fourth studio album, Utopia. The song peaked at #26 on Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It was certified Platinum in countries like Brazil, Canada (2x Platinum), and the United States and sold over 1.5 million units across the globe.
Details of Victory Boyd's lawsuit against Travis Scott, SZA, and Future explored
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According to a report by All Hip Hop, SZA, Future, Scott, and other defendants, including Cactus Jack Records, Epic Records, Sony Music Entertainment, and luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet were accused of copyright infringement of Victory's Like The Way It Sounds. Songwriters Jahaan Sweet, Jahmal Gwin, Nima Jahnbin, and Edgar Panford were some of the other defendants.
In her lawsuit, Victory Boyd claimed that the original song was shared with Kanye West in 2019 during a studio session. Ye decided to release it as a song titled "Future Bounce" or "Ultrasound " on his tenth studio album, Donda. However, the track was omitted from the final tracklist when the album was released on August 29, 2021.
As per Boyd, she left the track at Kanye West's studio at his Wyoming ranch. Later, West allegedly played it in front of Travis Scott, who started recording his version without Victory Boyd's permission.
Travis Scott allegedly included SZA and Future in his group and reworked the material of Like The Way It Sounds together. The song was then allegedly released as Telekinesis and became part of Scott's hit album Utopia.
“Upon information and belief, Scott, SZA, and Future intentionally and wilfully copied Plaintiff’s original work, specifically Plaintiff’s lyrics and melody, when they created the infringing work in May of 2023,” claimed the lawsuit.
According to Boyd's lawsuit, the below lyrics were picked directly from her track:
“I can see the future is looking like we level through the sky, I can’t wait to live in glory of eternal paradise…might as well turn up now, He gone pop up unannounced, hear the trumpets, do you like the way it sounds?”
In the filing, the Roc Nation signee claimed she was credited as a songwriter for Telekineses but wasn't informed that SZA, Scott, and Future could "copy and commercially release" the song. She reportedly planned to release the original track under Roc Nation.
Luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet collaborated with the trio to commercially use Telekinesis for an advertising campaign. However, Victory Boyd asserted that she didn't grant permission for her song to be used in that capacity.
“The defendants and AP partnered to publish and commercially release an advertising campaign broadcasting the infringing work over the plaintiff’s objection,” the lawsuit read.
In the filing, Victory Boyd demanded the destruction of all the copies of Telekinesis made from her original song. Furthermore, she claimed financial compensation for interests, profits, and damages. Finally, Boyd sought a detailed accounting of the revenue generated from the song's marketing, broadcasting, and promotion.
