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Janice STFU is the biggest hit Drake has released in years, but a lawsuit filed last week alleges the Toronto rapper stole the hook \u2014 an allegation his team strongly denies.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claims the chorus was written by Aviel (Avi) Hirschfield,<\/a> a Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist and producer who had worked with Drake before.<\/p>\n It claims Hirschfield was inspired to write the lyrics and melody while driving a loaned luxury Maybach to Seattle and listening to I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li, an artist Drake has sampled before, and someone Hirschfield thought he may be open to interpolating again.<\/p>\n Hirschfield then allegedly recorded a demo with his original vocals over an audio file produced by a duo known for their work with Drake, FnZ. He sent it to multiple people hoping it would get to Drake.<\/p>\n Later, the lawsuit alleges, Hirschfield heard the song Janice STFU and “was stunned to hear Drake perform word-for-word, note-for-note, the exact same chorus that he (Avi) had recorded and sent around to FnZ and other producers who work with Drake.”<\/p>\n The Toronto rapper’s team says these allegations are completely false.<\/p>\n How similar are the two tracks? The version created by Hirschfield has been leaked online, and you can listen below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Compare that to the video for Janice STFU released by Drake.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Janice STFU debuted in May at No. 1 on<\/a> both the Billboard Global 200 and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The ICEMAN track, is Drake’s 14th chart-topper, and officially broke his tie<\/a> with Michael Jackson, for the most No. 1 hits by a male solo artist.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Drake even held a series of parties to apologize to people named Janice<\/a>, who had been hounded by the song.<\/p>\n Hirschfield was not given a co-writing credit, and he was denied a share of the song’s revenues. <\/p>\n Representatives for Drake said he has “no connection or knowledge” of Hirschfield, telling Billboard<\/a>, which first reported this story, “Let us be absolutely clear: These allegations are categorically, unequivocally and completely denied. <\/p>\n “There is not one iota of truth to these accusations, and we reject every attempt to portray these claims as established facts.”<\/p>\n Universal Music Group, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, has not responded to a request for comment by CBC News.<\/p>\n