Month: November 2025

Lil Uzi Vert is being accused of ripping off one of his biggest hits, “I Just Wanna Rock,” in a new $110 million copyright lawsuit filed in federal court by a Rochester, New York artist who claims Uzi’s 2022 anthem borrows nearly all of its DNA from his earlier track “Pain and Pleasure.”

Sharrief K. Bouchet, known professionally as Rawyal or Rief Rawyal, alleges that “I Just Wanna Rock” — released October 17, 2022 — “copied the original hook, melody, and theme” of his record, particularly the signature chant “When I rock ah ah.”

A forensic musicologist’s report attached to the filing found a 93-97% derivation between the two songs. The analysis, conducted by Musicologize founder Brian McBrearty, cited shared tempo, structure, and rhythmic patterns — especially the identical “ah” vocal chants and the nearly indistinguishable lyrical phrasing around the word “rock.”

McBrearty’s report noted that both tracks “reside in the core band of ‘allegro,’between 130–150 beats per minute, and employ the same drum pattern and rhythmic syncopation, known as’ tresillo,’a hallmark of reggaeton and dance beats.”

He added that both songs feature “first-person, present-tense declarations that end with the identical word ‘rock,’forming a parallel lyrical structure.”

In “Pain and Pleasure,” Rawyal sings, “Pain and pleasure when I rock, ah, ah,” while Uzi’s version chants, “I just wanna rock, ah, ah, ah, ah.” McBrearty concluded these moments form “the hook, or the heart, of the respective works.”

Rief Rawyal says he released “Pain and Pleasure” on August 15, 2022, and later saw his version suppressed on Meta platforms after Uzi’s record dropped that October.

He claims that his uploads were repeatedly muted or removed from Instagram and Facebook as “Just Wanna Rock” gained popularity across TikTok, Fortnite, and in the trailer for the Blue Beetle movie.

The lawsuit claims Uzi and Atlantic Records had direct access to Rief Rawyal’s material. The rapper says he’d been in contact with Lanre Gaba, now president of Hip-Hop, R&B and Global Music at Atlantic Records, since 2012.

He provided the label executive with original songs, including music files and demos, during that period.

He argues that this established a “clear institutional pathway” for his unreleased material to circulate internally, potentially leading to Uzi or his producers obtaining and recreating elements of his beat and hook structure.

The suit names Lil Uzi Vert, Atlantic Records, Generation Now, Roc Nation, and Warner Music Group as defendants. Rief Rawyal argues that the companies used his creation to secure lucrative licensing deals with TikTok, Meta, and artificial intelligence firms.

He’s demanding more than $110 million in damages, citing lost streaming revenue, sync and licensing deals, and reputational harm. The filing also seeks retroactive publishing credit, an ownership share and an injunction to stop further use of the song.

Rief Rawyal, a former Jive Records artist and U.S. Marine veteran, says Pain and Pleasure was meant to mark his comeback after years away from music.

He insists that Atlantic had access to his work and that its subsequent reappearance in a global hit robbed him of the recognition and commercial opportunities he was poised to regain.

The lawsuit is the latest legal action the rapper is facing. He is currently being sued by a Jane Doe assistant who claims the rapper harassed her at work and created a toxic environment.

He is also being sued for beating a man on a Manhattan street, smashing the guy’s phone to pieces and then throwing hundred-dollar bills at him to humiliate him.

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President Donald Trump proposed a bold economic move on Sunday by suggesting $2,000 cash payments to most Americans, funded through tariffs, while deliberately excluding high-income earners from the payout.

The former president revealed the plan on his Truth Social platform, calling it a “dividend” funded by revenue from tariffs imposed on foreign imports.

“A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” he wrote.

The announcement comes as Trump continues to push for expanded tariffs as part of his broader “America First” trade strategy. The payments, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, could be implemented through existing tax cut legislation rather than a new program.

That route would enable the administration to bypass certain legislative hurdles and utilize existing legal frameworks to distribute the funds. The idea of turning trade penalties into direct cash for citizens isn’t entirely new.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley previously introduced legislation supporting similar tariff-funded dividends aimed at helping working-class Americans.

Trump’s proposal echoes that sentiment, positioning the tariffs as a tool to redistribute wealth from foreign trade to domestic households.

But economists remain skeptical. Critics argue that tariffs often act as hidden taxes on consumers, rather than on foreign governments.

While President Trump claims that other countries foot the bill, most economic experts agree that importers and, eventually, shoppers absorb the cost.

Still, the idea has stirred interest across political and economic circles.

Supporters praise the direct approach, while opponents question whether tariff revenue alone could sustain such a large-scale payout.

To meet the $2,000-per-person threshold nationwide, the government would need to generate hundreds of billions in tariff income or find additional funding sources.

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Being laid off during this crisis isn’t easy, and the government hasn’t really backed up all those employees who lost their jobs. I’m pretty sure some of y’all in Houston have noticed what’s happening at the airport…whole sections are empty! The TSA workers didn’t show up and now flights are being delayed or canceled. The government pays these people weekly, so it’s strange to see so many of them gone. It makes me wonder if any of this makes sense. But wait…people are still paying taxes, SNAP benefits are being cut…and yet things keep getting worse. We need to come together, because at this point, none of the divisions really matter.

What do you all think about this?

There’s a viral video circulating across platforms like TikTok claiming the government might never open back up. The idea is that officials are testing how people will react to the absence of government — basically, seeing if we’ll accept living without it. It’s an interesting thought, because you wouldn’t expect that from a democratic society, but maybe that’s exactly what we’ve become. It’s starting to feel less like a democracy and more like an oligarchy.

There’s also this long-standing idea that Donald Trump won’t leave office after the next three years, that somehow, some way, he’ll find a way to stay in power. People have floated a few theories: one is that he’ll just refuse to go; another is that a new war could be “created,” forcing him to remain in charge; and a third theory says the government will simply cease to function, leaving no system in place to remove him. All of these are crazy and remind me of movies I once loved.

Anyway, the person in that TikTok video says this whole thing is a psyop — short for psychological operation. It’s defined as “an activity or activities that use information and other psychological methods to influence the emotions, motives, reasoning, and behavior of a target audience.”

And honestly, given how things are going — not even one year in — it doesn’t sound so crazy. It actually sounds spot on. Everything described in Project 2025 seems to be unfolding quickly. Why would we think it’d be any different now? They’re even trying to block people from getting their SNAP benefits, appealing rulings just to stop folks from receiving basic food assistance they’ve relied on for years.

I’ve never personally needed those benefits, but I also wouldn’t support policies that deprive children or the elderly of food. What’s frightening is that so many people are fine with it. The majority of those being denied help aren’t Black, and they’re not adults — they’re children.

So yeah, it’s wild out here. I don’t know if this is all connected, but I can’t ignore how much of it lines up. Let me know what you think — I’m really interested to hear other perspectives on this.

I would post the original vid, but I said it better here.

Click here to tell me your thoughts on the whole thing?

​AllHipHop