Why is Dua Lipa being sued? Artikal Sound System's Lawsuit against "Levitating" explained

British pop superstar Dua Lipa is in legal trouble over Levitating, the song that headlined her album Future Nostalgia(2021) and was arguably the #1 song of the year.

A Florida-based reggae band named "Artikal Sound System" has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming that Dua's tune is a ripoff of their far lesser-known 2017 track Live Your Life.

Warner Records, Dua's music label, has also been named as defendants, among others. The group is asking for profits made off the composition, plus damages.

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Do Dua Lipa's "Levitating" and Artikal Sound System's "Live Your Life" sound similar?

Here's Levitating:

And here's Live Your Life:

Both songs are pretty distinct as far as the lyrics are concerned, but the beat might feel similar to some. It could be a case of both songs having a groove inspired from the same era, but the eventual verdict will soon hash the situation out.

The band's complaint was pretty short and contained only boilerplate information stating that they felt that the singer heard the song pre-2020 and merely printed out a carbon copy.

The complaint also stated that the two tracks were so similar that it was highly unlikely that Levitating was created independently.

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The success story of "Levitating"

While Dua Lipa was a bonafide pop sensation before the aforementioned album, with her 2017 single New Rules having been certified multi-platinum across the globe, the album and the single Levitating by extension have catapulted her into stratospheric success.

Levitating was released as the fifth official single off the record on March 27, 2020. A remix of the song featuring DaBaby, garnered even more success, becoming Dua's highest-charting Top 10 hit. It was only denied the top spot due to the reign of Silk Sonic's Leave The Door Open.

The song incorporates electro-disco and nu-disco influences with several disco tropes. Along with the rest of the album, Levitating was praised for having dance-pop, pop-funk, power pop, space rock vibes, and 1970s, 1980s and 1990s pop and R&B styles.

The track's upbeat, unabashed, and unapologetically pop style wowed critics and audiences alike.

Dua Lipa's take on the '80s revival was deemed an absolute success in a wave of artists such as The Weeknd also being inspired from the era. But the eerie similarity between her marquee track and an older, unknown track casts a shadow on her massive success.