GIVE ME ONE REASON

TMZ: Tracy Chapman Sues Nicki Minaj Over Unreleased Song

Minaj’s song uses Chapman’s lyrics and vocal melody, the lawsuit alleges.

Grammy award-winning singer Tracy Chapman filed a lawsuit against Nicki Minaj over alleged similarities between Chapman’s “Baby Can I Hold You” and Minaj’s yet-unreleased “Sorry,” according to a Tuesday report from TMZ. Chapman reportedly claims that in June 2018, Minaj made repeated requests to license Chapman’s song, all of which were rejected. On Aug. 1, Minaj asked Chapman to approve the song via Twitter and was rejected again, according to the lawsuit. On Aug. 11, Funkmaster Flex previewed the song on Hot 97, prompting Nicki to tweet “Sis said no,” which the lawsuit alleges was in reference to Chapman’s denials. The tweet has since been deleted. Minaj pulled the song from her album, Queen, and never released the song publicly—but according to the lawsuit, Minaj had already gone too far. The suit seeks monetary damages, as well as an order prohibiting Minaj from ever releasing the song again.