Lizzo accused of plagiarising CeCe Peniston song ‘Finally’ for her hit ‘Juice’

Lizzo has been accused of another case of plagiarism, this time of CeCe Peniston’s song “Finally”.

Peniston achieved a number of hits in the early Nineties including her signature song, "Finally", which peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1992.

Over the weekend she shared a side-by-side video of “Finally” and Lizzo’s hit song “Juice”, comparing the use of the ad-lib “ya-ya-ee, ya-ya-ee” in the song’s chorus.

“This is a clear example of #copyrightinfringement,” she wrote in the caption. “Cece Penison versus @lizzobeeating, y’all check this out and btw I love her music.”

Peniston explained that use of another artist's music in a song "for over seven seconds” breached copyright law, and claimed that Lizzo uses the ad-lib several times, which equates to around 40 seconds.

Peniston’s claim follows a plagiarism accusation by producer Justin Raisen, who accused Lizzo of lifting the line: “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 per cent that bitch,” from a demo called “Healthy” that she worked on with him, songwriter Jesse Saint John, and producer/songwriter Yves Rothman.

“We were never contacted about being credited for the use of the parts of ‘Healty’ (melody, lyrics, and chords’) that appear in ‘Truth Hurts’,” Raisen said in an Instagram post.

“We’ve tried to sort this out quietly for the last two years, only asking for five per cent [songwriting royalties] each, but were shut down every time.”

In 2018, singer Mina Lioness accused Lizzo of stealing that line from a tweet.

Raisen acknowledged Lionesses’ claims by pledging to share the proceeds with her if the dispute over “Truth Hurts” is settled.

The Independent has contacted Lizzo’s representatives for comment.

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