HoodCelebrityy has been hit with a lawsuit from Nardo Ranks over allegedly using his lyrics without consent.
Nardo Ranks, whose real name is Gary Henderson, filed a lawsuit in the Manhattan Federal Court in New York against HoodCelebrityy for copying the famous lyrics from 1992 smash hit Dem A Bleach for her new track Run Di Road.
HoodCelebrityy rolled out Run Di Road official audio on March 20. The Walking Trophy singer then released the official music video on June 18 and amassed 110,000 views.
Nardo Ranks is seeking at least US$500,000 in damages. His attorney, Taso Pardalis says, “We acknowledge that imitation is the highest form of flattery but HoodCelebrityy imitated Nardo and calls it her own — that is breaking the law.”
The lawsuit states that the defendant “pirated and extracted significant phrasing” from the original song and names both HoodCelebrityy, whose real name is Tina Pinnock and the label behind the song, KSR Group as defendants.
Nardo Ranks hails from the east Kingston community of McIntyre Villa (popularly known as Dunkirk). He honed his deejay skills on the Caveman sound system in the mid-1980s and got his break in 1989 with Wha Happen Sound Boy which featured singer Wayne Wonder, who also grew up in the community.
HoodCelebrityy was born and raised in Portmore, St Catherine and migrated to the US when she was 12. Her breakout came in 2015 hip hop artiste and her friend Cardi B posted about her song, Wine Pon It, online. The song went viral soon after. She became known to audiences in 2017 with the song Walking Trophy.
Listen both tracks below.
