New York rapper Slugga who filed a lawsuit accusing 2 Chainz, Offset and YG of copying elements of his song “Proud” for their own song of the same title, has dropped the lawsuit.
As indicated by court records obtained by The Blast, Slugga whose real name is Solomon Clanton has told the court that he is willfully excusing the whole argument against all the defendants. The court dismissed the case without prejudice which means the case can come up again if Slugga chooses to refile the lawsuit. Even with that possibility, this is still a win for 2 Chainz, YG and Offset.
Clanton previously argued that the trio’s joint project was likened to his own track titled “Proud” which was released in 2015. He filed a lawsuit against the three rappers aiming to get all profits made from the song, declaring in court documents that he is the copyright owner. He also tried to get a court order to stop the popular record from getting radio plays.
The dismissed lawsuit had stated that “After this song’s release[Proud by Slugga 2015], the hip-hop artist known as 2Chainz released a song also entitled “Proud,” which featured substantially similar lyrics and music, including the hook and thematic elements.” “Proud” which was released in 2018 off of 2 Chainz’ album The Play Don’t Care Who Makes It” went on to become a Platinum-selling record.
After juxtaposing both the 2015 “Proud” and the smash hit “Proud” that broke the internet after each of the rapper’s mothers appeared performing their verses in the video, it’s clear that there is a similar theme but I don’t know if it was enough for this case to go any other way.
The suit had also claimed that the hooks for the songs were just too similar. “Both the notes and the words surrounding the principal hook “I’m just tryin’ to make my mama proud” in the Subject Composition and the Infringing Work are identical,” the court documents had stated. But who doesn’t want to make their mama proud?
While I have to understand where Slugga was coming from, I am not surprised the case was dismissed. You can be your own judge and listen to both tracks before forming an opinion about copyright infringement claims but for now, this case is no more.
