The Poet Whose Lawsuit Couldn't Stop the Party

摘要

①THE ORIGIN In 1968, Abiodun Oyewole, one of three members of The Last Poets, wrote a poem called "When the Revolution Comes." Chanted raplike to the beat of a congo drum, it's an angry work predicting that one day "blood will run through the streets of Harlem." It also laments that, before that moment, too many black people will "party and bullshit."②THE SUIT Fast-forward to 2016: Oyewole hears the song How We Do (Party), from singer Rita Ora's 2012 debut studio album, Ora. The song opens with the repeated phrase "party and bullshit." Oyewole already knew that Notorious B.I.G. had written a rap song titled Party and Bullshit in 1992. Angered by Ora's use of the phrase, he sues Ora, B.I.G.'s estate, and various related entities for copyright infringement.