Katy Perry is being sued by a group of Christian hip-hop singers who claim she stole their music and tainted it with "dark magic."
Naming the pop star along with Capitol Records and others, the musicians said
Perry’s song “Dark Horse” infringed on the copyright of their song "Joyful Noise," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
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The group of musicians includes Marcus Gray, known as Flame, and Chike Ojukwu, both of St. Louis, and Lecrae Moore of Atlanta, and Emanuel Lambert of Aldan, Pennsylvania.
In the lawsuit, the group said their Christian song has been “irreparably tarnished by its association with the witchcraft, paganism, black magic, and Illluminati imagery evoked by the same music in 'Dark Horse'."
"Joyful Noise" was nominated for a 2008 gospel Music Association Dove Award.
TMZ posted versions of both songs and asked their readers for opinions on whether they’re the same, and reviews came in mixed.
“They both have the same rhythms, but not at all the same beats,” one person wrote. “It's a very big stretch to say those two tracks are similar. Then again, if you truly hate Perry...”
Others who didn’t hear strong likenesses between the songs accused the Christian rappers of doing a “money grab.” At least one person strongly disagreed with that assessment.
“Hahhah.. umm.. slow the beat down of Flames song and the beat is right on. As far as money grabbing .. They are a Grammy award winning christian record company and don't need any hand outs.. check your facts people,” the person wrote.
It’s not the first time “Dark Horse” has incited controversy for Perry. A Change.org petition from February demanded that the singer remove a picture of a man in the video who wore an Allah necklace as he stood in the midst of fire.
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