Dua Lipa ends 'Levitating' remix lawsuit in LA court

Dua Lipa's long-running "Levitating" lawsuit in Los Angeles is over. On Monday, Nov. 9, lawyers for the pop star, Warner Records and producer Bosko Kante filed a joint notice in federal court in Los Angeles dismissing the case with prejudice, Digital Music News reported that day, followed by Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide on Nov. 10. The filing ends a copyright fight over the talk box sound heard on several remixes of one of the biggest songs of the decade.

Dua Lipa is the British pop star behind "Levitating," the 2020 hit that Music Business Worldwide reported spent 77 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Bosko Kante is an LA-based producer and talk box player, Digital Music News reported. Rolling Stone noted he has worked with Kanye West and Big Boi and composed the theme for "In Living Color," and Music Business Worldwide reported he co-founded ElectroSpit, a company that makes a wearable talk box. The timing is notable for LA fans: the dismissal landed one day before Coachella named Lipa its Friday night headliner for 2027.

What to know

The joint filing on Monday, Nov. 9, dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again, with each side paying its own costs, Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide reported. The case was in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Bloomberg Law reported.
No terms were disclosed. Music Business Worldwide reported the filing does not say whether the parties reached a settlement, while Kante's lawyer told Rolling Stone the disputes had been resolved.
Kante sued in July 2023, claiming his talk box performance was used without permission on three remixes, including the one featuring DaBaby, Music Business Worldwide reported. He sought at least $2 million in damages plus a share of profits he estimated at more than $20 million.
The case was headed for trial in March 2027, according to Music Business Worldwide.
Lipa's lawyers did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment.

What the lawsuit was about

According to Music Business Worldwide's account of the complaint, Kante said he recorded talk box parts for the original "Levitating" under an oral agreement. He said he was to be paid $1,500, receive a share of neighboring rights split among seven musicians and get credit, and that his work was not to be reused beyond the original recording.

His complaint focused on three remixes: The Blessed Madonna's remix featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott, the remix featuring DaBaby, and a version made for the American Music Awards, Music Business Worldwide reported. The defendants were Lipa, Warner Records and co-writer and producer Stephen "Koz" Kozmeniuk.

The remixes were not small side projects. Music Business Worldwide reported that as of September 2024, the DaBaby remix had about 2.145 billion streams on Spotify, compared with about 984 million for the original album version.

A ruling that kept the case alive

The case survived an early test. In September 2024, U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera denied the defendants' bid to throw out the copyright claim, Music Business Worldwide reported. The judge wrote: "There is no requirement that Plaintiff be made to identify, second-by-second, which portions were used."

That ruling kept the dispute on track for trial, which Music Business Worldwide reported was scheduled for March 2027. Instead, the parties filed to end it four months before that date.

What Kante's side said

Kante's lawyer, Na'il Benjamin, gave Rolling Stone a short statement. "We've resolved Bosko's disputes with Warner," he said. He added: "Artist contributions are valuable, and proper use, credit, and compensation should be provided accordingly."

That second line reads as the point Kante wanted to make all along: a player who agreed to one use of his sound should have a say, and a payday, when it is reused. Because the case ended before trial, no court ever ruled on whether his claims were right. The judge's 2024 order only decided that the copyright claim could move forward.

Not the first 'Levitating' lawsuit

"Levitating" drew several lawsuits after its release on March 26, 2020, Rolling Stone reported. A suit from the group Artikal Sound System was dismissed. So was a claim from songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, who argued the song copied their "Wiggle and Giggle All Night," according to Rolling Stone. With Kante's case now dismissed too, none of the three suits described in Rolling Stone's report remains open.

Why it matters for LA

The case played out in federal court in Los Angeles, and it was brought by an LA-based producer. It is one of several music and entertainment disputes moving through LA courts this fall, alongside cases such as Megan Thee Stallion's bid to dismiss a stylist's lawsuit.

For Lipa, the timing could hardly be better. A day after the dismissal, Coachella announced she will headline the festival's Friday nights in April 2027, her first time topping the bill there. You can read our full rundown of the Coachella 2027 lineup.

What is still unknown

The biggest open question is money. None of the outlets reported any payment or terms, and Music Business Worldwide noted the filing itself does not mention a settlement. Rolling Stone reported Lipa's lawyers did not respond to a request for comment, so her side has not said anything publicly about how the case ended.

What happens next

Because the dismissal is with prejudice, Kante cannot bring the same claims against Lipa, Warner Records or Kozmeniuk again, and the March 2027 trial will not happen. Each side covers its own legal costs, according to Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide. For listeners, nothing changes: the remixes at the center of the case, including the DaBaby version with its billions of Spotify plays, remain part of the song's story. For Lipa, attention now shifts to the stage, with passes for her Coachella headline weekends going on sale Friday, Nov. 13.

Our take

This ends quietly, which is usually how these things go when both sides decide a trial is not worth the risk. Still, Kante's point about credit and pay for players whose sounds get reused is worth hearing, especially in a city full of working musicians. Do you think session musicians should get paid again when their part shows up on a remix? Tell us what you think.

Where this comes from

This story is based on Digital Music News' Nov. 9 report, Rolling Stone's and Music Business Worldwide's Nov. 10 reports and Bloomberg Law's Nov. 10 coverage of the court filing. Law360 also reported the dismissal on Nov. 10.

File photo: Dua Lipa performing at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on Oct. 5, 2025, by Justin Higuchi, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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LA This Weekend Team