Kanye West settles copyright claim with veteran house producer Junior Vasquez

Kanye West has settled a copyright claim with DJ Junior Vasquez over a track West produced that Vasquez called “essentially my original track with a rap laid on top."

The Chicago rapper and producer made “WTP” for Teyana Taylor’s album ‘K.T.S.E.’, released in June 2018, which Kanye West’s team said sampled Vasquez’s 1989 track ‘Work This Pussy’, made under alias Ellis D. You can listen to the two tracks below.

This is not the only time Kanye has been subject of a plagiarism dispute recently, with David Morales accusing his collaboration with Lil Pump as stealing his bassline.  

Vasquez, who was a prolific house producer throughout the 1990s on labels such as Pagoda and TRIBAL America, said of the dispute to Towelroad: "They referred to it as a sample, so I asked to hear the track they made and was surprised that it was essentially my original track with a rap laid on top.”

"I wasn't trying to bash anyone or piss anyone off. I was simply after a fair license agreement for the song." 

‘WTP’ was co-produced by Mykki Blanco alongside West, as well as rapper 070 Shake and composer Andrew Dawson. The album was released on GOOD Music and was included in at least 13 music publications’ lists of the best albums of 2018.

Vasquez was upbeat and philosophical about the affair, saying: “I’m still intrigued by how Kanye West and Teyana Taylor discovered my 30 year old song. I would love to know where and how they found it...I’m pleased by the success of the new version.”

“Teyana Taylor has introduced the track to a whole new genre that I would never have thought imaginable. Who knows?  Maybe it will inspire other hip hop artists and producers to take a look at my collective body of work to see what other tracks might have crossover potential?”

This is one of a string of plagiarism disputes involving high-profile pop stars, after Daft Punk and The Weeknd were sued for alleged plagiarism last year. 

Here are the two tracks: