Victory Boyd, a Roc Nation artist and songwriter, has filed a lawsuit against Travis Scott, SZA, and Future, accusing them of unlawfully copying her song Like The Way It Sounds to create their 2023 hit, Telekinesis. The lawsuit, filed on January 8, also names Cactus Jack Records, Epic Records, Sony Music, and luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet as defendants.
According to court documents, Boyd alleges she wrote and recorded Like The Way It Sounds in November 2019 and shared a demo of the song with Kanye West through a voice note. The lawsuit claims that West intended to use Boyd’s work as the foundation for a song tentatively titled Future Bounce, later renamed Future Sounds and Ultrasounds. However, none of these versions were released on West’s 2021 album, Donda. Instead, Boyd alleges that West shared her original song with Travis Scott, who then accessed the recording in a Wyoming studio and began developing Telekinesis based on her work.
Boyd contends that Scott collaborated with SZA and Future in May 2023, using her song as the basis for Telekinesis. The track was released on July 28, 2023, as part of Scott’s chart-topping album Utopia. The lawsuit asserts that Telekinesis has since garnered over 413 million streams on Spotify alone, capitalizing on Boyd’s copyrighted material without proper authorization.
The legal filing highlights specific lyrics from Like The Way It Sounds that allegedly appear in Telekinesis, including:
“I can see the future is looking like we level through the sky, I can’t wait to live in glory in eternal lasting life, won’t you take the wheel and I recline and I sit still—might as well turn up now, He gone pop up unannounced, hear the trumpets, do you like the way it sounds?”
Boyd claims she was credited as an 8% co-writer in the metadata for Telekinesis without her knowledge. She insists she had intended to finish and release her song through her deal with Roc Nation. In November 2023, Audemars Piguet allegedly contacted Boyd for permission to use Telekinesis in an ad campaign, which she declined, citing the unauthorized use of her original work.
Despite her objections, the campaign proceeded on December 4, 2023, further exacerbating Boyd’s claims of copyright infringement. The lawsuit argues that every download, stream, performance, and distribution of Telekinesis constitutes a violation of Boyd’s intellectual property.
Boyd seeks a jury trial and requests an injunction to prevent further use of her work. Her legal team argues she faces significant and irreparable harm if the defendants continue to profit from the song.
The case underscores ongoing tensions in the music industry over intellectual property rights and creative ownership.
Leave a Reply