Several days back, the 1990s duo Right Said Fred claimed that Beyoncé never requested permission to use their song “I’m Too Sexy” as a sample on “Alien Superstar.” And, in response, the iconic songstress is clearing the “erroneous and incredibly disparaging.” claims, stating that her team asked for publishing permission and paid for the composition’s usage.
According to the RSF brothers “Normally the artist approaches us but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person she just had probably thought ‘come and get me’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did,” “But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us.”
In a follow up statement to E! News, Beyoncé stated: “Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album.” and she listed the duo – Fred and Richard Fairbrass – as co-writers on the song.
“There was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilized,” Bey added. “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.”
In a tweet from Right Said Fred that’s still up, the duo even thanked Beyonce, writing “It’s nice to get a writing credit on the new ‘Beyonce’ album,” and linking to a Stereogum article about the piece’s credits.
This isn’t the first Renaissance album credit controversy as this summer, Kelis complained that Beyoncé interpolated her song “Milkshake” on “Energy” without credit. Mrs Carter subsequently altered the song by removing the sample from the track altogether.
“Milkshake alone is one of the most licensed records of our generation,” Kelis wrote on Instagram. “I have done more than left my mark on an era of music and style that will go down in history.”
The “Alien Superstar” controversy, sparked conversation about the art of collaboration after a tweet from songwriter Diane Warren that criticized the track for having 24 writers on a single song.
“You mean [how] does our (Black) culture have so many writers,” The-Dream wrote back. “Well it started because we couldn’t afford certain things starting out, so we started sampling and it became an Artform, a major part of the Black Culture (hip hop) in America. Had that era not happen[ed], who knows. U good?”
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Author: Saul Goode