Rap star YG is facing a lawsuit over claims he stole his hit song “Go Loko” featuring Tyga and Jon Z.
Tyrone Simmons, who raps under the moniker Young Caliber, claims he released his song “LoCo” in July of 2015.
Young Caliber says he marketed his song “LoCo” on major social media platforms when he released his version. The rapper says he was shocked to hear YG’s song “Go Loko,” which was released in May of 2019.
According to Young Caliber, YG’s song “Go Loko,” which was produced by DJ Mustard, has a nearly identical instrumental to his version of “LoCo.”
The budding rapper also claims “Go Loko” has similar lyrical aspects to “LoCo.” Young Caliber believes the theft of his music powered YG’s song “Go Loko” to become an international hit.
The track was released as the second single from YG’s album 4Real 4Real, and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
Young Caliber’s track only has 16,000 views on YouTube, compared to YG’s 200 million. Nevertheless, the rapper maintains that YG could have swiped his song since it was released four years before his hit song with Tyga and Jon Z.
Young Caliber is suing YG, Def Jam, for copyright infringement and unjust enrichment.
During a previous interview, YG said DJ Mustard played the beat for “Go Loko” in the studio, and at first, he did not believe it could be a hit record.
“We were in the studio chilling, and Mustard played that beat for us, like, ‘Bro, I think this is a hit!’,” YG told Variety during an interview in 2019. “Tyga’s, like, ‘huh?’ We were trying to figure out what Mustard heard because we weren’t hearing it. Tyga and I thought Mustard was tripping — like something’s wrong with him. We couldn’t figure out how to make a song to that beat.”
So far, DJ Mustard has yet to be named in the complaint. However, Young Caliber asked the judge for permission to amend the lawsuit in the future, to include other defendants.
