Drake is in the midst of a comeback following his devastating defeat to Kendrick Lamar but unfortunately, his attempt has led to new hurdles. The single, “Blue Green Red,” part of the first 100 Gigs drop, was quietly pulled from streaming services this week. The 100 Gigs 3-pack on DSPs has replaced the song with “Circadian Rhythm.”
Per Dancehall Mag, the song was pulled due to allegations of copyright infringement of Tiger’s 1991 “When.” Producer Cleveland “Clevie” Brown spearheaded the claim against the Canadian rapper, claiming that the song illegally interpolates elements of the dancehall single. Below, we dove into the details surrounding why the single was removed from streaming services.
The Controversial Interpolation
The trouble began when “Blue Green Red” was shared last month as part of Drake’s dump of unreleased content. The track was officially released on August 10, 2024, through OVO/Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings. However, just days later, Clevie, who produced “When” as part of the iconic duo Steely & Clevie, claimed that Drake’s song used the melody and lyrics from Tiger’s hit without proper clearance. Clevie spoke with DancehallMag, revealing that his publishers, SONY/EMI, had reached out to discuss clearance. The problem is they did not provide the track for review. Despite the lack of approval, Drake’s label went ahead and released the song.
“SONY/EMI [his publishers] called on Friday and said they were seeking clearance for When but they did not send the song. We can’t clear a song without hearing it. But Drake went ahead and leaked it before. The record company [UMG] blocked Drake’s release and then went ahead and released the song over the weekend without us giving any clearance. Because they did this before the fact, that can mean problems,” he said. “They used the melody just in a section, and it was repeated twice. So this is a clear infringement.” The line in question on Drake’s song comes in the post-chorus when he raps, “What the clock inna London? Yeah, Big Ben.” Tiger’s original lyrics are “Weh di clock inna London name? (Big Ben).”
What’s perhaps worse about this situation is that Drake has previously faced similar accusations by Steely & Clevie Productions. In the past, the duo has filed lawsuits against 160 artists and record labels, including Drake and UMG. Specifically, they claim the parties infringed on their 1989 riddim, “Fish Market,” which they allege was used on songs like “One Dance” and Bad Bunny’s “Mia,” which are part of 1,800 songs listed in the lawsuit.
Clevie explained that last-minute clearance requests are common in the music industry. “They often wait till the last minute to seek clearance. But we need to know the frequency of how the work is used so that we can evaluate what is reasonable in terms of copyright share,” he said.
