Kendrick Lamar accused of stealing 'entire composition' for 2017 song Loyalty

It’s alleged that ‘Loyalty’ was lifted from a 2011 song of the same name

Kendrick Lamar is facing a new lawsuit for copyright infringement.

Producer Terrence Hayes claims that parts of Lamar’s 2017 track “LOYALTY” were taken from his own song of the same name, which was released in 2011.

The lawsuit also names the artist’s producer, Terrace Martin, as well as his label and management, Top Dawg Entertainment and Josef Leimberg.

It’s alleged that Martin had access to Hayes’ original recording, as they are both said to have previously collaborated with Leimberg, but that Lamar’s producer ”slowed it down through a synthesiser... to disguise the copying”.

The lawsuit claims that “the entire composition, including title, melody, harmony and rhythm” of Hayes’s song were lifted for “LOYALTY”.

“Both songs use the same chord progressions, melodies and other aspects throughout, and neither song features any changes in the musical elements as the recordings progress toward their conclusions,” the lawsuit states.

This is not the first accusation of copyright infringement Lamar has faced.

He was sued for using a Bill Withers sample on the song “I Do This” without permission. It featured on the rapper’s self-titled 2013 EP.

“The musical composition ‘I Do This’ consists of nothing more than new, so-called Rap or Hip Hop lyrics, set to the existing music of ‘Don’t Want You To Stay,’” the suit, filed by Mattie Music Group, read

He was also sued for his collaboration with SZA for Black Panther song “All the Stars”.

The latter lawsuit was dismissed.