Social media users expressed confusion and disappointment after hip-hop artist Drake removed his song “Blue Green Red” from streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
X user @THR33P34T wrote, “I can never forgive Drake for taking down Blue Green Red, I’m truly heartbroken.”
@GagCityCowBoy agreed, replying, “And it’s literally the best song he’s released all year.”
@glo0ryyy asserted, “Blue Green Red might be Drake’s best song in the last 3 years.”
However, it appears there are legal reasons behind the song’s removal from streaming services.
Music producer Cleveland “Clevie” Browne is reportedly considering filing a lawsuit over Drake’s recent release, alleging that the song borrows lyrics and melody from Dancehall musician Tiger’s 1991 hit “When” without permission.
What happened to ‘Blue Green Red’?
The Canadian rapper’s “Blue Green Red” has been released via Drake’s collection of unreleased music and exclusive content called “100 Gigs for Your Headtop.”
The song was originally released last August by OVO/Republic Records, a subsidiary of UMG Recordings, Inc.
In a recent interview with DancehallMag, Clevie, who is best known as a member of the duo Steely & Clevie, opened up about the copyright issues surrounding his song “When.”
“SONY/EMI [his publishers] called … and said they were looking for approval for ‘When’ but they hadn’t sent the song. We can’t approve a song without hearing it. But Drake went ahead and leaked it before.”
He continued, “The record company [UMG] blocked Drake’s release and then went ahead and released the song over the weekend without any of our permission. Because they’ve done this before, that could cause problems.”
Brown stated, “They only used that melody in one verse and repeated it twice. So it’s a clear violation.”
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In Drake’s song, there’s a line in the chorus where he raps, “What’s the clock in London? Yeah, Big Ben,” while Tiger’s lyric says, “What’s the clock in London? (Big Ben).”
Drake has been in situations where Steely & Clevie Productions has accused him of similar misconduct before.
The rapper has been accused of infringing on their 1989 track, “Fish Market,” which they claim was used in Drake’s song “One Dance.”
“They often wait until the last minute to ask for permission,” Brown explains. “But we need to know how often the work is used to be able to judge how reasonable it is in terms of copyright sharing.”
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