In a recent clash of musical titans, NLE Choppa and Mike Jones found themselves embroiled in a heated dispute over a sample used in the former's latest track, "Cmon Freestyle." The song, which was released on Friday, October 27, 2023, samples Mike Jones' iconic 2004 hit, "Still Tippin'." The rift between the two artists escalated quickly, with accusations, copyright claims, and social media drama taking center stage.
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Mike Jones, the Texas rap legend, asserted that he had never granted NLE Choppa the permission to use "Still Tippin'." In an Instagram comment, he voiced his dissatisfaction, stating, "Don't care about getting respect, especially if the respect wasn't shown 4 months ago prior to releasing the music without getting the business clear! I told y'all #Welcome2TheMusicBusiness #StayTuned For Receipts & I wish a N-GGA Would."
In response, NLE Choppa took to social media to accuse Mike Jones of "trying to copyright a song he got cleared." He expressed his frustration, saying, "Ion know if it's Mike Jones or his team but on everything y'all dead wrong for trying to copyright a song I got cleared. That's some hating shit, especially for a young n-gga like me that's just tryna please his fans. Ion feel that I lost dumb respect, but it's cool fasho. This man lame for that. I'm partnered with a major label! They not even going to release a song if it ain't CLEARED. If that was the case, you would've sued instead of copyrightng! Anybody can make a COPYRIGHT CLAIM! That don't mean the record ain't cleared. Broke activities."
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Choppa further asserted that Mike Jones didn't even own the rights to the original song.
NLE Choppa had originally performed "Cmon Freestyle" for 4 Shooters Only's YouTube series titled "From the Block," but the performance was taken down, with the video being "no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Chappell."
Mike Jones promptly shared a screenshot of the takedown on his Instagram page with the caption: "STANDING ON BUSINESS."
Jones also posted a screenshot of an email dated July 5, which outlined NLE Choppa's intentions to use the sample, yet clarified that approval would only be granted upon resolution of the ongoing issues between Mike Jones and Choppa. The email read: "Hi all, I received a new request to clear a Mike Jones interpolation/sample for a new NLE Choppa song coming out soon via Warner. I informed Mike's publisher (Warner Chappell) that we are unable to approve any new requests until we can reach a global resolution with you regarding all the issues currently at hand regarding Mike Jones. Please advise. Reserving all rights. Thanks."
Despite the heated dispute, NLE Choppa continued to promote the video on his Instagram Stories, confidently stating, "Better than the original."
Mike Jones responded on his own Stories: "Let's see what the #s say then its Business Nothing Personal."
The controversial track, "Cmon Freestyle," is part of NLE Choppa's expansive album, "Cottonwood (Deluxe 2.0)," which features a lengthy 40 tracks.