Highest in the Room.
Rapper Travis Scott has recently found himself in the midst of a legal battle over his hit song, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”. The song, released on October 4, 2019, peaked at #1 on the #Billboard Hot 100. The rapper is now being named in a copyright infringement lawsuit for allegedly using a guitar melody in the song without authorization of its use.
Back in 2019, prior to the song’s release, Danish producer, Benjiman Lasnier, uploaded to social media a recording of himself playing a song titled “Cartier” with a distinct guitar melody to an audience of over 700,000. Some time later, he formed a friendship with members of Scott’s team, including Jamie Lepe, a sound engineer for many of Scott’s songs, which led to Lasnier sending him a batch of beats, including the guitar melody he had performed on Instagram earlier that year.
Fast forward, Lasnier believes that the melody was stolen and used as the guitar riff for Scott”s “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”. Lasnier allegedly sent Lepe a beat pack containing the guitar melody, but the two did not come to any agreement for its use. He later heard a version of the melody on Scott’s “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM,” and claims that the arpeggio (or broken chord) he created appears around 24 times in the song. Now, Lasnier is seeking what he believes he’s owed through legal means.
The complaint, filed by Lasnier’s attorney, accuses Scott and the other authors and producers of “pretending to be interested in a collaboration,” only to “intentionally break the rules by exploiting plaintiff’s work without consent or a license, masquerading as if plaintiff’s music is their own.” He has asked a judge for an accounting of the track’s profits, damages and a running royalty share. The song is believed to have made over $20 million since its release. The lawsuit also names every label behind the song’s release and each person credited as a producer or engineer.
Given that the case is still in its early pre-trial motions, it is unlikely to tell which side will prevail. Lasnier’s attorney, Richard Busch, told Billboard, “Everything we basically have to say is set forth in the Complaint. I will just add that our clients are very successful songwriters/producers who, as set forth in the Complaint, and is common practice, corresponded with the defendant writers with an eye toward licensing their work through a collaboration. They never expected that this would end up in a lawsuit but felt they had no choice but to take this action under these circumstances.”
According to Billboard and other news outlets, Scott’s team has not yet returned a request for comment.
Stay tuned as this story develops.