Drake denies copying 'Janice STFU' chorus as reference track leaks
A 45-second mark in a leaked vocal take now sits at the centre of a copyright fight over Drake's "Janice STFU".
The plaintiff is Aviel Calev Hirschfield, a Grammy-nominated songwriter credited on Beyoncé's "Heated", a song Drake also helped write. Hirschfield alleges the chorus of "Janice STFU" is "literally identical" to a demo he finished in January 2026, Music Business Worldwide and filed suit against Drake and Universal Music Group.
The lawsuit claims Hirschfield sent his vocal take to production duo FnZ and other Drake associates in hopes of reaching the rapper. That take introduces an interpolation of Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers", a short reuse of an older melody inside a new song. The filing then states Drake performed the same chorus "word-for-word, note-for-note, beat-by-beat", according to Pitchfork.
Hirschfield says he later asked for a co-writer credit and retroactive publishing splits, the shares of songwriting royalties paid to writers. He says he was turned away. He also claims file metadata, the time-stamped data embedded in a recording, will prove his work pre-dates Drake's version.
Drake denies the claim. His team says he has "no connection or knowledge" of Hirschfield and denies that anyone else was involved in writing "Janice STFU". Universal Music Group, the world's largest major label and Drake's label home, is named as a defendant alongside him.
The reference track at the centre of the dispute leaked on X. Complex was the first outlet to report the leak. Hirschfield's legal representative confirmed to Pitchfork that the leaked recording matches the evidence submitted in the case. The track is public as a lawsuit exhibit, with the disputed chorus beginning at about the 45-second mark.
What makes this stand out for listeners is how direct the comparison has become. Fans can hear the exhibit for themselves and judge the two choruses side by side while the case moves forward.
"Janice STFU", an Iceman track, spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 this spring, the US singles chart that counts sales, streams and radio. No court finding has been made. The dispute remains an allegation, with both sides stating sharply different accounts of how the chorus was written.
