EXCLUSIVE: Kendrick Lamar Escapes “Loyalty” Lawsuit

Kendrick Lamar

A producer who claimed he was cheated out of credit for crafting Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna’s#### song Loyalty has dropped his lawsuit.

Kendrick Lamar’s beef with a songwriter over his hit track loyalty with Rihanna has come to an end.

In August of 2020, a musician named Terrance Hayes sued Kendrick and the producers of the song, Josef Leimberg, and Terrance Martin.

Hayes’ lawsuit claimed that he had worked for years with at least one of them to produce the song starting in 2011, but in the end, a different unfinished version of the song was used to create the hit.

Hayes insisted that both songs were very similar, and even had the same name, but he received no credit at all as a writer or producer.

Earlier this week, Terrance Hayes unexpectedly dropped the lawsuit.

“To the honorable court, all parties, and their attorneys of record: please take notice that Terrance Hayes hereby dismisses this action, without prejudice,” Hayes’ lawyer Stephen M Doniger Esq., wrote to the United States District Court Central District Of California.

In 2018, Kendrick and Rihanna’s song snagged a Grammy for Rap/Sung Performance for the tune at the 60th Grammy Awards.

Loyalty, which hit number one on Billboard’s Rhythmic chart, was the second single from Kendrick’s#### album Damn, which dropped in April of 2017.