Nicki Minaj And Tracy Chapman Unable To Settle Lawsuit

Tracy Chapman’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Nicki Minaj is moving forward after the two reportedly failed to reach an agreement during a recent court-ordered mediation.

Chapman is accusing Minaj of unlawfully sampling her song “Baby Can I Hold You” for the track “Sorry.” Minaj reportedly confirmed in court documents that the song never made it to her album because Chapman didn’t approve the sample, The Blast reports.

According to the website, the battling sides “couldn’t reach a settlement,” and an agreement is not “imminent.”

Chapman sued Minaj in the fall of 2018. Months earlier, Minaj revealed that Queen’s release date hinged on Chapman. “So there’s a record on #Queen that features 1of the greatest rappers of all time,” she tweeted at the time. “Had no clue it sampled the legend #TracyChapman – do I keep my date & lose the record? Or do I lose the record & keep my date?” Minaj also pleaded for Chapman to get in contact with her.

“Sorry” was never officially released, although Minaj is accused of leaking the song to Funkmaster Flex who debuted it on his radio show.

The “Megatron” rapper denies committing copyright infringement, and reportedly claimed fair use as her defense. Minaj also allegedly argued that Chapman doesn’t even own the copyright, and is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

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