A report has surfaced that names Wu Tung Clan members Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man and RZA as defendants in a suit accusing them of illegal sampling. The accuser is Bridgeport Music and Westbound Records.

The track in question is “New Wu” from ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II, a Raekwon solo album released in 2009. It is accused of a 12-second or four measure cut “I’ve Changed” by the Magictones. The Raekwon track also features a verse by Ghostface and Method Man, while RZA produced it. This is why other Wu Tang members GZA, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa are not named in the lawsuit.

“These four measures have been sped up approximately 8.9%, making them last approximately 10 seconds and raising their key by one step from E minor to F# minor,” the lawsuit alleges. As a former music major, I can verify that this much is true; it is more a matter of whether that does enough to get away with the sample without permission, or if Raekwon had licensed the song from another source.

Hear the song and the original sample after the jump.

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Dan Bogosian

I finished school with a music theory degree. Before I finished school, I was a janitor. You really should apologize to all the janitors you've ever had. You hurt them. Seriously. You did.

But, now that we've cleared that up and you called your high school janitor, know that I quit being a janitor to pursue writing about music. So here I am, and here you are, and hey how are you?

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