In the summer of 2022, Memphis’ GloRilla put out her single “Tomorrow,” which would go on to 13 million views on YouTube and attract Cardi B for an eventual remix. “Tomorrow 2” with Cardi then came out in late September and would skyrocket all the way to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Arriving just months after her other 2022 smash hit “F.N.F.” with Hitkidd, “Tomorrow 2” still serves as her highest charting single to date, and was eventually added to the track list of her November project Anyways, Life’s Great…
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However, the story of “Tomorrow” has turned out to not be all sunshine and rainbows. On Wednesday (April 19), GloRilla was hit with a lawsuit by fellow rapper Ivory Paynes, according to XXL. Paynes, who is part of the Louisiana rap group Dog House Posse, filed the suit against GloRilla claiming that “Tomorrow” unlawfully infringes on the copyright of the 1994 Dog House Posse song “Street of the Westbank.”
“(‘Tomorrow’) misappropriates key protected elements of ‘Street of Westbank,’ including without limitation its musical arrangements, percussion tracks, synthesized orchestration, including but not limited to piano, cello, violin, contrabass, and drum set, and tone and melody,” the lawsuit reads.
Along with GloRilla, the song’s producer Macaroni Toni and its distributors Universal Music Group, Collective Music Group, and Warner Chappell Music are also listed as defendants in the case. Although Paynes did not specify how much compensation he was seeking for damages and lawyer fees, he did express his desire for a jury trial. GloRilla and her team have not responded to the suit.
While GloRilla is currently preparing to join Lil Baby on his upcoming summer tour, she has gone through a bit of turbulence as of late. Payne’s lawsuit comes less than two months after one fan died and multiple more sustained injuries at a GloRilla show in Rochester, New York.
Coincidentally, the “Tomorrow” lawsuit broke news on the same day that Drake was hit with a similar copyright suit for his song “Calling My Name.” It seems that rappers are having some trouble recently with sample clearances.
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