Beyoncé And Jay-Z Sued For Sampling Hungarian Folk Singer’s Voice Without Permission


A Hungarian folk artist has sued Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and members of their production team, claiming that the song “Drunk In Love” steals her vocals without her permission, E Online is reporting.

Mo?nika Juha?sz Miczura, who — fortunately — goes by the name Mitsou, claims in a lawsuit that the haunting vocals you hear in “Drunk In Love” came from her, with neither payment nor permission. She’s suing for “unspecified damages,” according to the Age, and wants “Drunk In Love” banned from the air until the suit is played out in court.

“Following Mitsou’s stirring featured solo vocal introduction, Mitsou’s voice continues to sing as Beyoncé begins to sing… All together, Mitsou’s vocals are featured for over one and half minutes of the five and one half minute song [sic]… Mitsou has never signed any documents that would permit anyone to use her voice for advertising or trade purposes.”

The vocals Beyoncé allegedly stole come from a 1995 recording by Mitsou’s Gypsy folk ensemble, Ando Drom. Mitsou claims she learned the song, “Bajba, Bajba Pelem,” released in the West as “Gypsy Life On The Road,” in 1997.

Mitsou says she learned the traditional Hungarian Gypsy folk song from her grandmother. The song, she says, is about “hopelessness, when one can no longer trust anyone but her own mother and God.” She says that Beyoncé’s use of her vocals caused “irreparable harm and emotional distress” over Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s “blatant unauthorized use of [her] voice for trade purposes.”

Below, you can hear Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s version of “Drunk In Love.” Listen extra hard between about :55 through 1:09; Mitsou claims that’s her. You can also hear that haunting voice sampled and manipulated elsewhere throughout the song.

And for comparison, here’s the original Hungarian Gypsy folk song that Mitsou claims Bey and Jay-Z stole and used to “evoke foreign eroticism alongside the sexually intense lyrics performed by Beyoncé and Jay Z,” according to Us.

When it comes to sampling in the rap world, the prevailing wisdom often seems to be “sample first, get permission (or pay handsomely in court) later.” Beyoncé and Jay-Z are just the latest in a long list of rap artists to have been sued for using samples without permission. In fact, Jay-Z himself has been sued for unauthorized sampling before — in 2013, according to this Inquisitr report, R&B singer Eddie Bo sued Jay-Z for stealing bits of his song “Hook & Sling Part 1? for his 2009 song “Run This Town.”

Do you believe Mitsou’s claim that Beyoncé and Jay-Z stole her voice in “Drunk In Love”?

[Image courtesy of: Holly Wire]

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