Kanye West Sued By Donna Summer’s Estate Over “I Feel Love” Sample On "Good (Don't Die)"

BYAron A.Published on February 27, 20245.2K Views

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 09: Kanye West attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

"GOOD (DON'T DIE)" contains an unauthorized interpolation of Donna Summer's "I Feel Good."

It’s been a whirlwind of a ride for Kanye West, who finally unveiled his joint project with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 1, earlier this month. Already, the album proved to be monumental for Ye and Ty. However, Ye now faces a new lawsuit as a result of the project. The estate of Donna Summer has filed a lawsuit against Kanye over her single, “I Feel Love,” which he sampled on Vultures 1 single, “GOOD (DON’T DIE)” without proper authorization. According to the estate, he used a soundalike to interpolate one of her songs after initially being denied his request to sample “I Feel Love.”

You’ve likely heard the song already, even though it was later removed from the album days after its release. became one of the highlights of the project, though the familiarity of “I Feel Love” is undoubtedly part of the appeal. However, Donna Summer’s team made it abundantly clear in their suit that they already denied Ye permission to use the song (apparently, he reached to clear the sample on Jan. 31) yet he attempted to find a loophole around it. Still, Summer’s estate explains that the interpolation won’t protect Ye from copyright infringement.

Donna Summer's Estate Won’t Stand For Kanye’s Antics

It really isn’t difficult to understand why the estate of the late singer, who still controls the copyright of the song, didn’t want to off on the sample. TMZ reports that this is presumably due to the string of controversy that surrounds Kanye, from his comments on George Floyd to his pro-Hitler tirades. At the end of the day, they decided that Ye’s use of her song wouldn’t be beneficial and passed up on Ye’s offer.

As for why the song is currently unavailable to stream on DSPs in certain markets, Summer’s estate said they reached out to streaming platforms to remove the song. Though streaming platforms like Apple and Spotify removed the song, it eventually returned to the tracklist. However, the song already gained millions of streams and for those who purchased the album on Apple Music, it’s apparently still available to listen to. The estate of Donna Summer is seeking major damages, along with an injunction to prevent the song from being distributed.

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.