Obrafour's lawsuit against Drake over "Killer cut" sample faces ownership claim by Mantse

The CEO of the Chalewote Festival, Nii Manste Aryeequaye, has claimed ownership of the ‘Killer Cut’ vocals, which was used on veteran Ghanaian rapper Obrafour’s song the ‘Oye Ohene’ remix.

Obrafour is currently suing Canadian rapper Drake for allegedly sampling his song, “Calling My Name,” after Drake’s request to use the work was denied. Drake used the vocals in an intermission midway through his song while the same phrase introduced Obrafour's song.

Obrafour is seeking at least $10 million in damages. 

However, Nii Manste has claimed that Obrafour erred in filing the lawsuit on his intellectual property without notifying him.

According to Nii Mantse, Drake’s right to the “Killer Cut” vocals was “never relinquished to Obrafour and was used by the Producer of the album, Hammer of The Last 2 on Obrafour’s song as he did with others.” 

Nii Mantse, who hosted veteran music producer Hammer’s productions and introduced new tracks and artistes belonging to the Last Two Music Group into the music industry, made the allegations in a tweet.

LISTEN to the sample that has resulted in a $10million legal tussle between Obafour and Canadian rapper Drake.
The "killer cut" phrase which Drake allegedly used on his "Calling my name" song without permission was used by Obrafuor on his "Oye Ohene" song which features Tinny. pic.twitter.com/yf35Ob7wfi

— GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) April 20, 2023