Daft Punk and The Weeknd are being sued $5 million for their hit ‘Starboy’

It has been claimed that Daft Punk and The Weeknd stole “Starboy” by “ripping off a poet”. The accusations are coming from Somali-American poet Yasminah for ‘ripping off’ her song ‘Hooyo’. The federal court lawsuit is about how Yasmin “Yasmina” Mohamed’s claims that her 2009 song “Hooyo” was ripped off by Daft Punk and The Weeknd. Scouring the internet, we see mixed reactions from fans and artists, with some calling the claims bogus while others say they are genuine.

Mohamed describes herself as “a Somali-American poet, singer, and songwriter”. The Weeknd became familiar with the song as it was popular with the “East African diaspora of which The Weeknd is connected”. Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is the singer and once stated how ““Starboy’s hook is a virtually identical copy of Hooyo’s hook. The material repeats every two measures during Starboy’s eight-measure verse”.

Mohamed is also in the pursuit of suing her own record label, The Squad. Mohamed is also suing two producers William Uschold and Tyrone Dangerfeild, on the grounds that they settled with The Weeknd over “Hooyo”. Following the settlement, Mohamed claims they left her out of the deal.

Speaking to the rights and ownership between a label and the artists, lawyer Nai’il Benjamin told The Post, “The Squad owns the music, Yasmina does not”.

What are your thoughts? Was “Starboy” stolen or no?