Earlier this year, Frank Ocean sued producer Om’Mas Keith for allegedly filing for songwriting credit on songs that he did not contribute writing to. Ocean alleged that Keith was paid a flat fee for his production work on Blonde and therefore was ineligible to receive any songwriting credit for the songs he worked on. Now, Keith has countersued Ocean and denied the allegations in the original suit, The Blast reports.
In the countersuit, obtained by Pitchfork, Keith claims to have produced and co-written the majority of Blonde’s songs (“Nikes,” “Ivy,” “Pink + White,” “Be Yourself,” “Solo,” “Skyline To,” “Nights,” “Pretty Sweet,” “Facebook Story,” “White Ferrari,” “Siegfried,” “Godspeed,” “Futura Free”) as well as the Endless tracks “At Your Best” and “Florida.” He also claims that the agreed-upon flat fee was for his work on 2012’s Channel Orange. Keith claims he told Ocean that he would not accept the same terms as Channel Orange. He also claims that Ocean released the songs without his permission and says he has not received any royalties for his work on Blonde.
The producer demands that Ocean’s lawsuit—which seeks Keith’s removal from the ASCAP credits and a legal injunction that prevents him from claiming he co-wrote any of the music—be thrown out. Keith is also seeking unspecified damages, claiming Ocean’s conduct has caused him “enormous and irreparable harm.” He’s also seeking a court order stating that he’s the co-author of the songs in question and accounting for all profits Ocean received for those tracks.
Ocean’s attorney, Ed McPherson, said in a statement, “Mr. Ocean stands behind everything that we alleged in the First Amended Complaint, and we look forward to having the case heard by a judge and jury. We are confident that, when the true facts are presented, Mr. Ocean will prevail. It is quite telling that, on the list of the many songs that Mr. Keith claims to have co-written is a song called ‘At Your Best (You Are Love),’ which was written and recorded by the Isley Brothers in 1975, and covered by Aaliyah in 1994.”
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Keith for comment.
This article was originally published on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 10:46 p.m. EST. It was updated on Friday, June 1 at 7:49 p.m. EST.
