Blakk Rasta, the host of Black Pot on 3FM, has weighed in on the debate surrounding attempts by several Ghanaian artists to seek recompense from American rapper Drake for copyright violations.
Drake is being sued by Obrafour for $10 million in the Southern District of New York for copyright infringement in Drake’s 2022 song “Calling My Name” from his “Honestly, Nevermind” album.
In an ironic turn of events, Mantse Aryeequaye, the creator of the Chalewote Street Arts Festival, has claimed the same soundbite from the Obrafour song that the Grammy Award-winning rapper utilised.
On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Blakk Rasta responded to the news by claiming that the genre of hiplife was created by the sampling of American music.
“Hiplife as a genre, how did it even start? Hiplife as a genre started by sampling, heavy sampling. 99% of all the early hiplife songs that come out including the ones that Reggie Rockstone brought to us were all sampled. So American artistes and rappers and some other African songs, today if all those Americans want to come back and say this artist sampled this song from me… Ruth Eye sampled Fresh, which artiste in Ghana doesn’t sample? How many Ghanaian artists have paid for sampling American music?
“Now that Afrobeat music has put Africa on the map, I am so scared that if the Americans want to retaliate, we will have to sell the whole of Ghana and we will never pay the copyright.”
However, Blakk Rasta pleaded with Mantse and Obrafuor to avoid fighting over the chance to receive compensation and instead find a cooperative solution to make sure they both profit from the copyright claim.
Reggae musician Blakk Rasta claimed that the two sides had previously discussed the issue but were unable to come to an agreement.
