A Chicago band said one of the world’s biggest rappers used part of their song on his new album — but said Travis Scott failed to credit, compensate, or clear the sample.
After years of working on and performing their song, “Pursuit,” Chicago band Pixel Grip woke up to a surprise when they heard a sample of their song.
“And then I listened to it again and then in all caps was like, ‘Holy s***!'” said vocalist Rita Lukea.
Lukea told her bandmates — drummer/producer Tyler Ommen and synth player/producer Jon Jon Freund their song was on the new Travis Scott album “JackBoys 2.”
“I can just tell immediately, because like, I worked so hard on this song, it’s like, I can hear the bass line in the background. I can hear the noise that swirls in the very beginning,” said Freund.
Playing their song “Pursuit” and Travis Scott’s song “Kick Out” side-by-side, Pixel Grip said there is no doubt.
“As soon as I had headphones on, I was like yo, y’all, this is just a sample,” said Ommen. “This is the song in the background.”
The Pixel Grip song “Pursuit” took years — starting at a festival in 2018. The band’s media shows clips of them putting it together in 2020.
So the band posted online that the Travis Scott song had sampled “Pursuit” without permission.
“I just can’t stop thinking about who else extremely famous or powerful in music knows about us and even actively likes our music but refuses to throw us a bone,” Pixel Grip wrote in a post on X.
Pixel Group said they got a message from Scott’s co-producer, Sean Momberger, telling them, “Hey the label should be reaching out to clear the sample soon.”
Momberger said the song wasn’t cleared prior to release, and added that he loved “Pursuit” and “knew it was special right when [he] heard it.”
Momberger was also behind what was arguably last year’s biggest rap hit — Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
“It just would have meant the world if he even just tagged us or shout us out in any way, like, that would’ve been a huge moment for us,” said Lukea, “but instead, he just completely acted like we don’t exist.”
As the band looks over their new album, they say they’re open to work with others.
“We’re happy to collaborate, just let us know,” said Ommen.
But they are hoping to be a part of the process — not just the end product.
“song is good,” Lukea said. “We just want credit.”
The band will hit the road for a tour with dozens of stops starting Sept. 23, and is already thinking about the ways that they are going to incorporate the controversy into their sets.
CBS News Chicago reached out to producer Momberger and several members of Travis Scott’s team. We have not heard back.
