A producer says he still has the original stems for the hook on “Janice STFU,” and he thinks they prove Drake took it. Drake’s camp has a very different view, and they aren’t being subtle about it.
The lawsuit, first reported by Billboard, comes from hip-hop artist, producer and engineer Aviel Calev Hirschfield.
He claims he wrote the now famous chorus, and that he made it specifically with the Toronto rapper in mind after hearing Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers.”
Hirschfield alleges the finished track and his version are basically identical. According to the suit, his stem recordings are still intact, which he’s positioning as the receipts that back up his story.
Drake’s team fired back fast. Speaking to TMZ, a representative said the allegations are “categorically” and “unequivocally” denied, adding, “There is not one iota of truth to these accusations.”
They didn’t stop there. The rep called the suit a “manufactured and baseless attempt” to grab publicity and discredit Drake’s work, then drew a hard line: “Drake wrote this song and has no connection or knowledge of this person, full stop.”
The timing makes the fight a big deal for both sides. Drake is having a huge 2026, with three blockbuster albums that won back a lot of fans who drifted during his bruising feud with Kendrick Lamar.
“Janice STFU” is a big part of that comeback story. The darker, moodier record became a number one hit, and listeners have picked apart its subliminal shots aimed at Jay-Z and Kendrick.
This also isn’t the first time this year that someone has accused Drake of lifting their work. Back in May 2026, Florida rapper 1900Rugrat went public with claims tied to the ICEMAN rollout.
1900Rugrat said Drake reached out about working together, so he sent over a few records.
Drake reportedly gravitated toward one that would later become his intro, and when it became clear the song was being saved for the album, Drake still allegedly said he’d use him on the project.
That collaboration never came together. Afterward, 1900Rugrat said he heard a song on ICEMAN that sounded like his production and didn’t hold back in a video about it.
“Twin, that’s the only beat I’ve ever produced,” he said. “Don’t rip my s**t and repitch it like that, fam. That’s fried out and f**ked up, twin.”
He followed up by posting DMs between himself and Drake, showing the two really had discussed working together.
He never took the matter to court, though, which leaves Hirschfield’s case as a different kind of challenge.
For now, it’s a producer pointing to his stems against a camp insisting Drake has never even heard of him. With “Janice STFU” still one of the defining songs of his year, all eyes are on what Hirschfield’s files actually show once the case moves forward.
