EXCLUSIVE: Bosko Kante’s “Levitating” Remix Suit Ends After Years In Court

Bosko Kante’s court fight over his voice on Dua Lipa‘s “Levitating” remixes has ended, closing a case tied to tracks with DaBaby and Missy Elliott.

The suit was dismissed with prejudice, which means Kante can’t bring the same claim again. He sued Lipa, producer Stephen Kozmeniuk and Warner Records in July 2023.

The resolution of the deal remained under wraps, but both sides were ordered to pay their own legal bills.

The suit sought at least $2 million plus interest. Kante also asked for the profits from the remixes, which he put at $20 million or more. He also sought a court order to stop others from reusing his work.

Known for his work on records with E-40, Kante made a talk-box part for the song. A talk box lets a player shape an instrument’s sound with their mouth, so it can sound like speech.

He said Kozmeniuk asked him to record the part in 2019 and that he wrote the melodies and lyrics himself. The deal for its use was oral, with no written contract. In his account, the pair agreed to use his work on the original song but barred any sampling or reuse.

Kante said three remixes then used his voice without his consent. He claimed they used more of his work than the first version of the song did.

Those tracks included the DaBaby remix and The Blessed Madonna’s remix with Missy Elliott.

His copyright claim had survived a bid to end it in September 2024. The defense argued that he had not shown which parts of his voice were used in each remix.

At that stage, the court found that his claim that all or most of his recording had been used was enough to let the case proceed.

The same ruling also threw out a state-law claim requiring Warner to show how much the remixes earned. He sought those figures to work out how much he might be owed if he won. Federal copyright law gave him a way to seek that money.

Other suits claimed the song copied parts of older tracks. Kante’s case dealt with who could use the sounds he made for the hit.