Source: Kevin Winter / Getty
BeyonceÌ is catching flack for allegedly sampling another artist’s song without permission.
During an interview with The Sun this week, UK pop duo Right Said Fred told the publication that the Grammy-award-winning artist didn’t ask to sample their 1992 classic “I’m Too Sexy.” The tune appears on Bey’s popular Renaissance hit, “Alien Superstar.” Now, the pop group is heated with the 40-year-old celeb, because they believe they should be credited on the hit smash.
“Normally the artist approaches us but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person,” they told the publication. “She just had probably thought ‘come and get me’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did. Everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us.”
In 2021, Drake sampled the duo’s popular song for his single, “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug. Swift also used the track on her chart breaking 2017 smash “Look What You Made Me Do.”
“To use our melody they need our permission so they send us the demo and we approve it and if so we get a co-write credit. With this Beyoncé thing there are 22 writers it’s ridiculous so we would get about 40p,” the pop duo continued.
“The reason that is happening we think is because there is so little money now in the actual sales people like friends, golfing partners, engineers, bookers and the guy who brings the coke, they all want a cut.”
Ultimately, Right Said Fred admitted that they may not be able to do anything about the situation.
“We cant stop it. There is nothing we can do. It is s***” the pair said, before adding:
“You are going to get into a conversation with someone who has a lot more presence and power and money than we do. And that won’t go well. It’s best to let it go. If you’re not careful you spend your life looking back. We keep looking forward the whole time.”
Reps for BeyonceÌ say the accusations are “false”
In a statement to The Sun, a rep from Bey’s team called the group’s accusations “erroneous” and “incredibly disparaging.”
“Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album,” the rep continued, before airing out the details of the alleged deal.
For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilized. Permission was asked of their publisher on May 11, 2022 and the publisher approved the use on June 15, 2022. They were paid for the usage in August, 2022. Furthermore, the copyright percentage of the Right Said Fred writers with respect to the use of “I’m Too Sexy” is a substantial portion of the composition. Collectively the Right Said Fred writers own more than any other singular writer and have co-writer credit. This accusation is false. “
This isn’t the first time Bey has been called out for sampling a well known artist’s song without their permission. Back in August, Kelis lit into the mother of three for using an interpolated sample of “Milkshake” on Renaissance’s “Energy,” but after some heated backlash from the singer, the sample was later removed.
RELATED CONTENT: Kelis Slams Beyoncé For Using Her Song Without Permission For The ‘Renaissance’ Album
