If you’re unaware, Nicki Minaj and Tracy Chapman have been duking it out in court for the past few months over accusations that the Queen rapper used the singer's song without proper authorization. However, Nicki has since disputed the lawsuit, claiming the use of the singer's track, "Baby Can I Hold You" was fair game. While Tracy has continued forward with the lawsuit, Nicki isn’t giving in without a fight. TheBlast reports Nicki is refusing to settle with Tracy and is taking the lawsuit to trial.
Reports say that on October 2 the two sides tried to privately hash out their issues in a court-ordered mediation, but things didn’t go well. “The mediation was unsuccessful, and no settlement was reached. Settlement in not imminent” an excerpt read.
Nicki admits that she tried to get Chapman's permission on several occasions to use her music before the song came out, but those requests were denied. So as a result, the song, "Sorry" ft. Nas was initially held off her album Queen because of those sample clearance issues. However, the song was later leaked by Funkmaster Flex who shared it on social media. Nicki argued that the use of Chapman's song is fair use and further claimed that Chapman doesn't even own the copyright to the song.
A judge will have to make the final ruling, and we’ll let you know when he/she does.
