Rick Astley, whose 1987 hit track “Never Gonna Give You Up” is embedded in Americana and meme historical past, is suing rapper Yung Gravy for impersonating his voice, Billboard stories. Astley alleges that Gravy’s 2022 breakout hit, “Betty (Get Money),” imitated his voice with out authorized authorization.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles, and claims that “Betty (Get Money)” imitated Astley’s distinct voice in his eighties traditional.
“In an effort to capitalize off of the immense reputation and goodwill of Mr. Astley, defendants … conspired to incorporate a deliberate and practically indistinguishable imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice all through the track,” Astley’s lawyer alleged. “The public couldn’t inform the distinction. The imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice was so profitable the general public believed it was truly Mr. Astley singing.”
Representatives for Yung Gravy didn’t instantly return Rolling Stone’s request for remark.
During the making of “Betty,” Gravy and his crew allegedly bought the inexperienced gentle to make use of the instrumentals to “Give You Up,” however not Astley’s vocals. The submitting states that Gravy didn’t have the rights to make use of the precise sound recording of Astley’s observe, often known as “sampling.”
In order to mimic the singer’s “signature voice,” the swimsuit alleges that Gravy employed Nick “Popnick” Seeley, who, enjoyable truth, wrote the beat for “Get Schwifty” on the animated collection Rick & Morty
“A license to make use of the unique underlying musical composition doesn’t authorize the stealing of the artist’s voice within the unique recording,” Astley’s authorized crew said. “So, as an alternative, they resorted to theft of Mr. Astley’s voice and not using a license and with out settlement.”
“Never Gonna Give You Up” reached Number One in 25 nations. “Betty” reached gold standing within the U.S. with the New York Times heralding it as “a real-life rickroll that functioned as a comedy track, a TikTok pattern and a nostalgia journey all of sudden.”
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