According to legal documents obtained by PEOPLE and first reported by The Blast, Jamaican singer and songwriter Michael May (who performs as Flourgon) is claiming the Cyrus stole the lyrics from his 1988 track “We Run Things.”
May alleges Cyrus’s lyrics “We run things / Things don’t run we” were taken from his lyrics “We run things / Things no run we,” and adds that the former Voice coach’s track “substantially incorporated” his “vocal melody/rhythm/cadence/inflection.”
A rep for Cyrus, 25, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE.
Though the lawsuit doesn’t specify how much May is suing Cyrus and her co-writers, including Mike Will Made It, May’s lawyers told Reuters the performer is seeking $300 million in damages.
“May was the first to construct such a sequence using the phrase “‘We run things. Things no run we’ and was the first musical artist to convey this unique, creative and original lyrical phrase/sequence into musical arrangement,” May’s lawyers argue in the documents.
The suit also points towards Cyrus’s change from an “‘All-American,’ wholesome musical and television character” on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana to an “edgy” artist with a “new approach to life and music,” and claims she used Caribbean music for inspiration.
May is also seeking a trial by jury and wants to prohibit Cyrus from profiting further from the song.
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.
