The Bay Area’s Rappin’ 4-Tay is getting paidâagainâfor a verse that Drake stole from his anthem “Playaz Club.”
Portions of the song royalties from YG’s “Who Do You Love?,” which includes Drake’s verse, are for sale on Royalty Exchange, an auction site for royalties. The auction also includes royalties for Tupac’s “Only God Can Judge Me” and Rappin’ 4-Tay’s “Playaz Club.”
Though the seller is not publicly named, each song in the auction has something in common: veteran San Francisco artist Rappin’ 4-Tay, a.k.a. Anthony Forte, is listed as a songwriter.
The auction comes four years after Drake reportedly paid Rappin’ 4-Tay $100,000 for lifting several lines from “Playaz Club” in his featured verse on “Who Do You Love?” As fans quickly pointed out when the song climbed the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014, Drake’s bars sound almost identical to 4-Tay’s.
Bidding for the catalog of three tracks is currently at $38,250. The auction does not include copyright, nor mechanical or sync royalties, but public performance royalties paid most commonly for internet streaming, AM/FM and satellite radio, and performances in TV and film. Estimated combined royalties from the songs brought in $7,545 the last 12 months.
This sets up an unusual scenario: Drake, forced to give up a portion of his royalties for “Who Do You Love” and pay Rappin’ 4-Tay $100,000, could potentially buy them back, thus paying Rappin’ 4-Tay twice for his verse.
The auction, viewable here, ends Sunday.
Copyright 2018 KQED