‘INFRINGEMENT’

Childish Gambino Sued by Rapper Claiming ‘This Is America’ Ripped Off His Song

Rapper Kidd Wes is taking Donald Glover to court, claiming that his hit song “This is America” has “substantial similarities” to his 2016 song “Made in America.”

Florida rapper Kidd Wes is taking Donald Glover to court over the Childish Gambino song “This is America.” In a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday, Kidd Wes (real name Emelike Wesley Nwosuocha) alleges that the hit song has “substantial similarities” to his 2016 song “Made in America.” The resemblance between the two songs “amounts to infringement,” Nwosuocha’s lawyers said in a statement. “Mr. Nwosuocha is confident in his claims, and simply seeks the credit and compensation he deserves.” The lawsuit seeks damages from profit across 43 different categories, including record sales, ringtones, and endorsements. This isn’t the first time Glover’s hit song has raised accusations of plagiarism: in 2018 social media users suggested that Glover “stole” from a 2016 song called “American Pharaoh” by Jase Harley, charges that Glover’s musical collaborators on the song denied. Glover has not yet publicly responded to the allegations in the lawsuit.