To say that the success of Black Panther send major shockwaves withing the MCU would be an understatement. Upon release, Black Panther was praised, breaking numerous records and surpassing the one billion dollar mark. You could tell Marvel themselves weren’t sure if the movie was going to be successful, with Infinity War (releasing a few months later) reducing the role of Prince T’Challa to a small cameo, and turning Wakanda into the scene for the final battle.
Black Panther checked all the marks and blended them to make one of the best superhero movies of all time, from great directing to the amazing soundtrack. However, New York-based rock band Yeasayer seemed to suspect foul play, as the group has filed a lawsuit against Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd over their song, “Pray for Me,” from the official Black Panther soundtrack. According to the legal documents, “Pray for Me,” pulls soundbites from Yeasayer’s 2007 song, “Sunrise.” According to a statement from the group, “a distinctive choral performance … comprised of male voices singing in their highest registers, with animated, pulsing vibrato, and developed via distinctive audio post-processing.” Yeasayer continued by claiming Lamar and The Weeknd, “extracted,” their vocals, and tried changing them for “Pray for Me,” but they claimed even with changes, they’re “immediately recognizable.” Yeasayer claims that you can spot the, ‘stolen,’ soundbites around eight times throughout, “Pray for Me.”
TMZ obtained the legal documents claiming that Yeasayer is asking for the trial jury to determine whether the band should be compensated for the profit and damages from, “Pray for Me.”
The timing for this lawsuit does raise some questions since Black Panther released two years ago. However, upon release, the movie earned a best picture nomination, and broke multiple records. Black Panther 2 is set to start production with a release date of May 6, 2022. As for Yeasayer, the band broke up last December.