Nicki Minaj is being sued for copyright infringement for her 2014 song “I Lied” as another musician is accusing her of having “directly copied” his beat.
According to a lawsuit obtained by The Post, musician Julis Johnson filed the complaint Monday in California, claiming that Minaj and producer Mike Will Made It’s ballad sounds eerily similar to his song “onmysleeve.”
Johnson claims his song was published on YouTube in 2011 — three years before “I Lied” was included on Minaj’s album “The Pinkprint.”
In the docs, Johnson says his beat was included on a hard drive that was taken from a studio session without his consent in 2013 when he attended the Art Institute of Atlanta.
Johnson claims that “associates” or “affiliates” of Minaj, 40, and Mike Will, 34, also had access to the institute’s recording space around that time and allegedly got their hands on his hard drive.
Nicki Minaj performs during Rolling Loud at Citi Field on Sept. 23, 2022, in NYC. Getty ImagesHowever, a source claiming to be close to Minaj told TMZ that the “Super Bass” rapper had nothing to do with selecting the beat.
“Clearly Nicki is a lyricist, so the claim in terms of production will obviously have to be addressed by the applicable parties,” they said.
Representatives for Minaj and Mike Will did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
However, when contacted, Johnson’s attorneys sent The Post a lengthy statement saying, in part, that “he only recently discovered the infringement” and, after learning of the alleged issue, “we sent a cease and desist to Universal and Minaj to try to resolve the issue amicably, but the cease and desist went ignored. As a result, Mr. Johnson was forced to file this lawsuit in order to protect his rights in his valuable creative works.”
They also noted that they “learned that this wasn’t the first time Minaj has been accused of infringement.”
In early 2021, singer Tracy Chapman won $450,000 in a previous copyright suit against Minaj.
Through his lawyers, Johnson also said, in part, that he has “struggled” with “self-worth” issues and that he created the song in question “out of the need to express my emotions before my emotions consumed me in self-harm, drug abuse, and even thoughts of suicide,” adding that the tune “soothed” him and calling Minaj’s alleged infraction “a direct slap in the face.”
The suit claims that both “onmysleeve” and “I Lied” “contain substantially identical underlying instrumentation and beat,” as well as “utilize at least the same style instrument bed, rhythm, beats per minute, and song key.”
Producers Ester Renay Dean and Skooly, as well as Universal Music Group and other record labels, are also named as defendants in the suit.
Johnson wants Minaj’s and Mike Will’s profits they earned from the song, as well as for a judge to order them to stop using it — or at least credit him on “I Lied” and the album.
“I Lied” was featured on Minaj’s 2014 album “The Pinkprint.”
The suit claims that “The Pinkprint” was “streamed 16.8 million times across all on-demand streaming services in the United States during its first week.”
The album was certified double platinum in February 2016.






