DJ JMK is suing Cardi B, City Girls, French Montana, and Yo Gotti, as he said he was never paid for his beat which they all sampled in some of their most famous songs.
The DJ, whose real name is Kirk Edwards, said that the instrumental was made in November 2000 and played in clubs where he DJ’d, according to TMZ. Master P famously rapped over it in 2002. JMK says his track, Choppa Style, has over 9 million streams on YouTube, and a small portion of the song has been sampled on multiple popular tracks in recent years.
Cardi B and City Girls sampled a snippet of the song last year for their famous single, Twerk, according to documents obtained by TMZ. JMK is also claiming that French Montana and Yo Gotti did it on their song, Oh Yeah back in 2017. He stated that she should have been paid for the samples, but never received any money.
Twerk peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hop Rap Songs chart in February of this year, according to Billboard. It is also known for its notorious music video in which Cardi B and Yung Miami can be seen in full body paint as they twerk on the beach. Oh Yeah appears on Yo Gotti’s I Still Am album.
The artists are now being sued for copyright infringement, as JMK says the rappers have all “misappropriated many of the recognizable and key protected elements” of his work.
Cardi B, City Girls, Master P, French Montana, and Yo Gotti all have yet to respond.