“Lucid Dreams” Producer Nick Mira Says Sting Took 85 Percent Of The Song

Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams” has been one of 2018’s defining hits, but producer Nick Mira says that the artists behind it have only seen a small share of the profit. In a since-deleted tweet, he wrote that Sting, whose track “Shape of My Heart” is interpolated on the record, took 85 percent of the song for himself.

In an interview with Billboard, Sting praised the sample. He called it a “beautiful interpretation that is faithful to the original song’s form.”

At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles, he made the joke about the song’s royalties paying for his grandchildren’s education that apparently irritated Mira.

On November 17, Juice WRLD tweeted a message that may have been about “Lucid Dreams” and the issues with Sting.

Sting’s music has been sampled by artists like Nas, Cam'ron, and 2Pac, and he has a documented history of taking a king’s ransom from his samples, particularly when they aren’t properly cleared.

A Celebrity Net Worth article details how Sting successfully demanded 100 percent of royalties from Puff Daddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You” because he failed to ask for permission to sample The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” The piece also notes that Sting is credited as the sole composer on “Every Breath,” even though bandmates Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland contributed to the track, which is still a source of contention between the trio.

It isn’t clear as of now whether the “85 percent” Mira cited is specifically royalties, publishing rights or some other financial stake in the track.

Juice WRLD appeared on an episode of Genius' series Verified to break down his hit single, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Read the full lyrics to “Lucid Dreams” and the rest of Juice WRLD’s discography on Genius now.