The Producer, Suing As John Doe, Says He Was Hired on an Emergency Basis on Aug

Kanye West faces a new lawsuit from an anonymous freelance producer who claims the rapper, now known as Ye, failed to pay for work on the albums Vultures 2 and Bully. The producer, suing as John Doe, says he was hired on an emergency basis on Aug. 1, 2024, two days before Vultures 2 dropped, and created at least 13 custom AI voice models and over 400 vocal generations under extreme time pressure.

He alleges five tracks on Vultures 2 and contributions to two commercially released Bully tracks went uncompensated, despite nearly two years of demands. The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks at least $110,000 in compensatory damages for seven tracks, plus double damages under the Los Angeles Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance, and claims breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and violations of state and local freelance worker laws. Ye and his Yeezy label allegedly acknowledged the work and promised to update streaming credits but later offered a master buyout. This is not the first such accusation: in May, Ye lost a copyright trial over an uncleared sample in his Grammy-winning song Hurricane, played for 40,000 fans at a Donda listening event.