It is no secret that Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has always had a knack for taking old songs and giving them new life through his brilliant sampling. He birthed many of his popular tracks by grabbing bits and pieces from different songs and then using his producer skills to work his magic- slowing things down, speeding up the tempo, adjusting the pitch, and whatever else he feels like doing. Yet, even the sampling wizard has faced his share of challenges. 

Take his most recent album, 'Vultures', for instance, where he has been accused of sampling Donna Summer's track, 'I Feel Love', without proper clearance. 

Sampling is generally accepted in hip-hop culture, provided one has gotten the green light from the copyright holder. Reflecting on the controversy over Ye's Vultures album, Donna Summer’s widower Bruce Sudano told Billboard, “It’s a very unfortunate situation”. He shared that he tried to see things from his late wife's point of view, which led him to take action against Ye. “Kanye is a great artist, but wrong is still wrong”, said Sudano.  

He also mentioned how Beyoncé had previously sampled Donna Summer's tracks, but she ensured Sudano was completely comfortable with it. She even went the extra mile, playing the track 'Summer Renaissance' for Sudano in person instead of just sending an MP3, unlike Ye and his team. Sudano revealed that despite his refusal to approve the sampling, Ye and his team decided to go for it anyway by allegedly changing the lyric and having “somebody sing the same melody”. Nonetheless, the widower is not the only one who contributed to the 'Vultures' controversy.

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Even Ozzy Osbourne joined the list of accusers, claiming that Ye had asked him to sample a section of live performance. 

Earlier this year, Ozzy Osbourne spoke out against Ye for allegedly wanting to sample his music. In a social media post, the rocker called out Ye in all caps, stating, “@kanyewest ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘WAR PIG'". He then informed that Ye was refused permission for it. This accusation did not go unnoticed by Ye.

Later on, the 'Donda' rapper took to Instagram and posted a screenshot of a chat in reply to Osbourne's allegation. The chat had an image of Osbourne and his wife from last year's Halloween, along with a message stating, “he obviously has a celebrity handler who’s on his account”. Nevertheless, these controversies have put a damper on the excitement surrounding 'Vultures', and with the continued delays of the next volumes, it is unclear how long Ye will keep fans waiting.

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What do you think about Bruce Sudano's interview about Ye? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!