Drake Sued Over ‘Janice STFU’: Songwriter Claims Chorus Is ‘Literally Identical’ to His Demo

Aviel Calev Hirschfield alleges the rapper's reps "shamelessly refuse to acknowledge" his contributions to the hit Iceman single.

Drake é acusado em uma nova ação de usar “shamelessly” o demo de um compositor sem crédito ou compensação pelo gancho de seu single de sucesso “Janice STFU”, da Iceman.

The Friday (Oct. 16) legal complaint, filed by Gregory Korn and Jonathan Steinsapir of Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir and first obtained and reported by Billboard, alleges that the chorus of Drake’s May mega-hit is “literally identical” to a demo sent by composer Aviel Calev Hirschfield to Drake’s team at the beginning of 2026.

Hirschfield claims he wrote the demo in December 2025 and January 2026 over an audio bed he’d received from producer duo Michael “Finatik” Mulé and Isaac “Zac” De Boni (known as FNZ), frequent Drake collaborators.

Hirschfield interpolated the 2011 Lykke Li track “I Follow Rivers” and says he specifically wrote the song for Drake, with whom he’d previously worked as a co-writer on the 2022 Beyoncé track “Heated.”.

De acordo com a ação judicial, Hirschfield enviou seu demo finalizado para FNZ e outros produtores que trabalharam com Drake, mas nunca recebeu resposta. Ele ouviu “Janice STFU” pela primeira vez quando Iceman saiu no streaming.

FNZ são creditados como co-autor de “Janice STFU”, que também interpola “I Follow Rivers”. Hirschfield diz que o gancho da música é “literalmente idêntico” tanto à melodia quanto às letras de seu demo, que apresenta as linhas: “Reach me, baby / Call my phone and say you need me, baby / I’m so green, you gotta teach me, baby / From Vancouver, you a BC, baby / Pull up Maybach, beep beep, baby / And my shit came with the heat seats, baby / Swear my label gotta free me, baby / Blow on me just like some green tea, baby.”.

Since the song’s release, Hirschfield says he has requested a co-writer credit and publishing splits for “Janice STFU.” But Drake’s lawyers allegedly “shamelessly refuse to acknowledge Avi’s authorship,” maintaining that Drake wrote the chorus on his own even after Hirschfield provided them with his stems and metadata.

The lawsuit seeks a cut of the profits from “Janice STFU,” alleging Drake has “robbed Avi of the reputational benefits and substantial compensation he deserves for his contribution to Drake’s biggest hit in many years.”.

A rep for Drake declined to comment on the lawsuit. Reps for UMG did not immediately return requests for comment on the suit.

Billboard is a part of PMX Global, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 Billboard Media, LLC. All rights reserved.