We’ve all heard of rappers having ghost writers: Frowned upon, but happens.
What we don’t hear so often is one of the biggest names in country rap publishing and charting with music they got from another artist, a female artist, without crediting them.
A copyright lawsuit filed in the Middle District of Tennessee claims that Nicole Arbour wrote 3 tracks on Ryan Upchurch’s album People’s Champ. Jelly Roll is also featured on the album which we’ll get to.
Anyone could say maybe she didn’t write them, but the problem is Upchurch aka Mr “I like to fly the confederate flag at my shows” was dumb enough to post the evidence that proves she was a co-writer on social media.
Ryan looked straight to camera and said, “…Nicole just made this, check it out.” Then played the song “Good Day” that’s on his People’s Champ album. Credits for the track, Nicole Arbour isn’t listed. He’s caught.
In the court documents, you see Upchurch sent Nicole the demo bounces they made that day. Good Day, and Severe Storms. Arbour isn’t listed on “Severe Storms” as a writer either.
Fans (who see all) posted remembering when Upchurch announced he took her on tour to write.
Here comes the crazy part. For the last year since these sessions that went so well they were cut on the album (#2 on Apple Music) and performed live, Upchurch has been on a Law and Order SVU level tirade against Nicole online making hundreds of stalkerish videos and posts about her.
She eventually filed a restraining order against him, and a defamation lawsuit that is still in court.
It gets even more wild.
Recently, Upchurch posted mocking Arbour’s track, “Biddi Bum” that was released back in February. To me, it sounds like 90’s rock/rap, fun sound. But Upchurch dissed the track and production. Problem is, “Biddi Bum” was produced by Andrew Baylis who also produced Jelly Roll’s hit “Dead Man Walking,” and was recorded at Jelly Roll’s studio. He’s throwing shade at his own people.
For Upchurch to be this salty it seems like the story he tells of ‘rejecting her when she wanted to date’, doesn’t check out. Guys who reject girls aren’t salty about it after, they don’t make videos about it, and they don’t “steal” credits. They move on.
It’s refreshing to see a bad ass female in a male dominated genre standing her ground, and we’re excited for her to get proper credit as the rising star she clearly is.
