Kendrick Lamar is facing a lawsuit over an image he used during promotion of his new album To Pimp a Butterfly. Freelance photographer Giordano Cipriani has filed a lawsuit against K. Dot, claiming that the emcee used one of his images without authorization to promote his album sample track "The Blacker the Berry."

Capriani claims that neither Lamar, his label Interscope Records nor Aftermath Entertainment obtained the rights to use one of his photographs to use as the single artwork for "The Blacker the Berry," according to Bossip. However, the rapper used the picture on his Facebook and other social networks anyway.

The photo was taken by Capriani in 2011 during a trip to Africa. It features a woman breastfeeding two infants. Indeed, in a post from February on Lamar's Facebook page, Cipriani's image is used as the artwork for "The Blacker the Berry."

ICYMI: "The Blacker The Berry" https://txdxe.com/newsite/2015/02/09/kendrick-lamar-the-blacker-the-berry/

Posted by Kendrick Lamar on Monday, February 16, 2015

Capriani is a freelance photographer and claims that he uses money from licensing his work to make a living. He filed a lawsuit on July 10 in New York seeking damages for the unauthorized use of his work and is seeking to block Lamar from continuing to use his photograph to promote "The Blacker the Berry." Capriani is looking for $150,000 for each time the picture was used and lawyer's fees.

Lamar has yet to respond to the lawsuit or allegations.

"The Blacker the Berry" was released as a teaser single leading up to the release of Lamar's critically acclaimed sophomore album To Pimp a Butterfly, which was released in March.

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