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Chris Brown has received his first Diamond plaque thanks to his 2019 collaboration with former enemy Drake, “No Guidance.”
On Tuesday (November 12), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) handed out a slew of new certifications. Among them, Breezy and Drizzy’s collab earned its Diamond plaque, which means the song has sold over 10 million units – though it’s actually now at 11 million.
Meanwhile, artists Tykeiya Dore and Marc Stephens just recently filed a lawsuit against Chris Brown and Drake for at least $5 million over claims they “No Guidance” stole from their 2016 track “I Got It.”
The suit, filed in New Jersey, alleges that Brown, Drake and other songwriters behind “No Guidance” took the main lyric from “I Got It” and changed it to “You got it,” using “the same chord progressions, tempo, pitch, key, melody, harmony, rhythm, structure, phrasing, and lyrics” as Dore and Stephen’s original track.
The complaint argues that “it’s impossible to not hear the two songs are substantially similar” and cites a since-deleted YouTube video comparing the two tracks.
In addition to the two superstars, the lawsuit also names co-writers Velous, Nija Charles and Michee Lebrun as defendants, as well as and producers Noah “40” Shebib, Vinylz, J-Louis and Teddy Walton.
Brown’s label RCA Records, along with several music publishers tied to “No Guidance,” are also named.
The suit claims that “I Got It” came to the attention of Vinylz through Benji Filmz’ YouTube Channel, while Nija Charles received a copy of the song from Tikeiya’s uncle, Jesse Spruils.
After the release of “No Guidance,” Spruils allegedly confronted Charles about her “stealing the chorus of [Tikeiya and Stephens’] song,” but never told Tikeiya about it because he felt “incompetent, humiliated and embarrassed.”
In an unusual move, the lawsuit also requests damages from YouTube and parent companies Alphabet and Google for defamation against Stephens in a dispute over a YouTube takedown notice.
Stephens claims that YouTube deleted his channel earlier this year after he filed a takedown request over “No Guidance,” with the company expressing concerns that “some of the info in [his] takedown request may be fraudulent.”
YouTube reinstated his channel two months later after Stephens threatened to sue the company for defamation.
“No Guidance” was previously at the center of a separate copyright lawsuit back in 2021, although that suit was eventually dropped.
