But the exact payout has not been established yet.
For “NO BYSTANDERS” on Travis Scott‘s 2018 album, Astroworld, the Houston rapper enlisted Sheck Wes to aggressively repeat “F*ck the club up” on the hook. This part the moshpit-inducing song blatantly references Three 6 Mafia‘s 1997 track, “Tear Da Club Up 97.” While Sheck swapped out “tear” for “f*ck”, he still mimics DJ Paul‘s cadence on the original. In April, it was revealed that DJ Paul would be seeking compensation from Travis for this copyright infringement – an upwards $20 million to be specific. DJ Paul supported his argument by pointing to how Travis even used the hook “Tear Da Club Up” when performing a clean version “NO BYSTANDERS” at the 2018 Grammys.
Although DJ Paul wished for the song to be pulled from the album at first, DJ Paul later clarified to Complex that he holds no ill-will toward Travis and simply wanted credit (and money) where credit is due. “Travis Scott and I have been in touch personally about this matter, he is aware the situation, as is his label. Everything will be worked out accordingly with proper communication between he, Juicy J, and I. There is no beef, just business,” he said.
According to legal documents obtained by The Blast, Travis and DJ Paul are close to finalizing this business. The two have agreed to a “tentative settlement.” While an exact dollar amount has not been determined yet, the documents state that they will sign the settlement papers within the next 30 days. $20 million would be awfully large compensation to pay, but Travis is a huge artist and he didn’t ask permission for the sample, so we’ll see how this turns out.