This isn’t the first time Sting has come for a hip hop artist over the use of a track without clearance. Sting took legal action when Sean “P. Diddy” Combs forgot to ask permission to use the iconic guitar riff and melody from The Police’s 1983 song “Every Breath You Take.” Combs added the riff to “I’ll Be Missing You,” the 1997 track recorded in memory of rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace. Because of that, Sting was awarded 100 percent of the royalties.
Although, Sting had previously praised Lucid Dreams as a “beautiful interpretation” of “Shape of My Heart,” the seasoned artist isn’t shy about reminding newcomers that the music industry is a business.
Nick Mira went on to say: “Sting ALSO flexed stealing our money and said it put his grandkids through college
” in a recently deleted Twitter post.
“Lucid Dreams” is five-times platinum and peaked at number 2 on Billboard’s top 100.