Earlier this month, Ozzy Osbourne blocked Kanye West from sampling a live version of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" on VULTURES 1, his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign. Following his all-caps decree, the Prince of Darkness has now further explained the decision in a new interview.
The day after West held a listening party for VULTURES 1, live-streamed from Chicago's United Centre, Osbourne wrote on Twitter that the artists were "refused permission because [West] is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many." Now, Osbourne tells Rolling Stone that he felt the need to stand up to West as "nobody else would fucking do it, did they?"
West previously interpolated the main melody of "Iron Man" on "Hell of a Life," a song which appeared on 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — a little over a decade before he made numerous antisemitic remarks and praised Adolf Hitler.
"With the current state of affairs, you don't need anybody starting people on discrimination of any kind," Osbourne told Rolling Stone of West's comments. "It's wrong. It's just wrong. There's enough fucking aggravation, and he shouldn't say anything [like what he has]. It's wrong if you don't say anything about him. I don't want any of my work in any shape or form to be associated with anything like that."
West would replace the "Iron Man" sample on the song "Carnival" before the album was released, but Osbourne isn't the only one with something to crow about regarding the music of VULTURES 1.
Following Toronto artist KILLY claiming that West lifted lyrics from an old demo for a song titled "Beg Forgiveness," it was reported today that West and Ty Dolla $ign have been served a copyright infringement lawsuit by the estate of Donna Summer, claiming the late singer's eternal disco smash "I Feel Love" was used by the duo for their song "Good (Don't Die)" via "an unauthorized interpolation."
In legal documents viewed by Pitchfork, Bruce Sudano — Summer's second husband and estate executor — and lawyers argue that "West and his Co-Defendants used the song’s iconic melody as the hook for their infringing song and essentially re-recorded almost verbatim key, instantly recognizable portions of “I FEEL LOVE” using a singer soundalike to Summer, with slight changes to the lyrics," even after the estate allegedly denied the clearance request. The publication notes that "Good (Don't Die)" has since been removed from major digital streaming platforms at the request of Summer's estate.
