A new legal battle is heating up for Ariana Grande over her hit single “7 Rings.”
In a federal complaint filed in New York on Thursday, hip-hop artist Josh Stone — who performs under the name DOT — accuses the 26-year-old singer and her songwriting team of plagiarism, claiming they lifted the hook from his 2017 song “You Need It, I Got It” and used it for the chorus of Grande’s 2019 single.
Stone’s attorneys said in court papers: “Indeed any comparative analysis of the beat, lyrics, hook, rhythmic structure, metrical placement and narrative context, by musicology experts or everyday listeners alike, demonstrates clearly and convincingly that ‘7 Rings’ copied ‘I Got It'”
Ariana was nominated for five Grammys at the awards show on January 26, including two for ‘7 Rings.’ The single spent eight weeks at No. 1 after it was released in February of last year.
Stone claims in the lawsuit that he had initially pitched “You Need It, I Got It” to Tommy Brown, who worked on all five of Grande’s studio albums, during a 2017 meeting with Universal Music Group.
He also says the producer showed interest in a collaboration, but Stone believes Brown “simply took” his song to Grande and “later repackaged” it to “7 Rings,” according to the suit.
Grande’s representatives have not immediately responded to the lawsuit.
Music copyright suits have become a hot-button issue in the industry since the 2015 “Blurred Lines” verdict. Last year, a jury found that Katy Perry had stolen a riff from Flame, a little-known Christian rapper.
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