Gospel singer Bri Babineaux says she didn't give Kanye approval to use vocals for 'Donda'
Singer Bri Babineaux, who's now a popular gospel name after several of her videos went viral, says she didn't give Kanye West approval to use samples of her vocals on his newly-released DONDA album.
“Thank you to everyone who congratulated me on the #Donda album,” she wrote on Instagram following the surprise album release on Sunday. “However, I had no knowledge of this before hand.”
Babineaux, who's expecting her first child in November, said she received messages congratulating her for making it on the mainstream rapper’s album on his song, “Lord I need You.”
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“Lord sometimes I feel like I can’t make it, Lord sometimes I just feel like I can’t go on. But Lord I need you to wrap your arms around me,” she sings.
DONDA, which is filled with messages of West’s Christian faith, has already topped several music charts, including Amazon and iTunes.
“It would’ve been nice to know before the album came out smh…” Babineaux, who recently garnered her first No. 1 record on Billboard Gospel Airplay Charts for her single, "He's My Rock," continued in her since-deleted post. “Who does that voice sound like to y’all? #Donda.”
West’s version of the song appeared to alter the voice and add bass so it doesn't sound like Babineaux. However, both the delivery of the lyrics and the style of singing remains the same.
The original composer of the gospel song titled, “Make Me Over,” B. Slade, took to social media on Monday to hit back on Babineaux's claims. He called out the singer for never asking him if she could sing his song before her rendition of it went viral on social media.
“But you didn’t call ME to clear your version of the song that was sampled though. You were discovered by doing a rendition of a song that I wrote 100%……So Kanye stole nothing because he came to the rightful owner of the song legally. Let’s all be clear here,” he tweeted.
B. Slade assured everyone that West did get the song approved for his album by contacting him.
West nor his management have responded to the accusations.
This is not the first time DONDA has been the subject of controversy. West took to social media earlier this week to claim that his label, Universal Music, released the album without his permission. Singer Chris Brown and rapper Souja Boy likewise expressed their frustration with West for cutting their verses off the album.
