Om’Mas Keith Countersues Frank Ocean Over 'Blonde' Songwriting Credits

Ocean sued Keith earlier this year for claiming writing credits on 11 tracks off 'Blonde.'

In February of this year, Frank Ocean sued Om’Mas Keith, a producer on his 2016 album Blonde, after Keith claimed co-writing credits for 11 of the tracks on the album, including “Ivy” and “Pink + White.” Ocean claimed Keith had no involvement in the music or the lyrics of the tracks, and had instead been hired back in 2014 to work on “master recordings” for a flat rate. Today, Billboard reports that Keith filed a countersuit against Ocean, insisting that he did write and produce nearly all of Blonde.

The suit affirms that Keith was paid a flat fee to work on 14 of the songs onChannel Orange. However, Ocean worked with Keith again on Blonde but the two did not agree on a deal. Keith was also allegedly “adamant” that he would not accept the same kind of deal he had accepted for his work on Channel Orange. 

Keith claims to have worked on “Nikes,” “Ivy,” “Pink + White,” “Be Yourself,” “Solo,” “Skyline To," "Nights," "Pretty Sweet," "Facebook Story," "White Ferrari," "Seigfried," "Godspeed," "Futura Free," "At Your Best" and "Florida." In addition, Keith claims Ocean did not have permission to release or perform these songs. Keith also claims Ocean used Keith’s photos in the Boys Don’t Cry magazine without permission. All of these together have caused Keith “enormous and irreparable harm.”

With his countersuit, Keith seeks a court order stating that he is indeed the co-author of those songs, accounting for the profits Ocean has made from those tracks, and, finally, for Ocean’s original suit to be thrown out. 

Keith has also worked with Jay Z, Kanye West, St. Vincent, Earl Sweatshirt, among others. In a 2016 Fuse interview, Keith called Ocean “one of the classiest guys you’ll ever meet” and added: “Frank and I are always involved. I love working with him.”

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