Rihanna Accused of Stealing Her New Hit Song From Just Brittany — Is It True? [Video]

Rihanna has been teasing fans for months about her musical comeback. Unfortunately, her arrival has been soured by rumors of plagiarism. According to reports “B**ch Better Have My Money”, the new song by Rihanna, may have been based off the music of a lesser known artist named Just Brittany. It doesn’t help that the song the 27-year-old is accused of ripping off is called “Betta Have My Money.”

To understand the source of outrage by fans of Just Brittany, it’s best to listen to both her song AND Rihanna’s new hit single. So here are both songs for you to listen to and judge for yourselves.

After listening to both tracks, it seems easy to make the case that Rihanna’s flow and music borrow heavily from the Just Brittany tune. If you were to speed up “B**ch Better Have My Money,” it’s very likely it would sound practically identical to the track by the lesser known artist. That could spell trouble for Rihanna in court.

It’s one thing when a song is slightly similar to preexisting music. However, the combination of similar music and flow and even the title itself may see the young artist hit with a hefty lawsuit.

It’s not the first time that Rihanna has been accused of stealing from others in order to boost her own success. Back in 2011, it was noted that the video for her “S&M” single borrowed heavily from the photography of David LaChapelle. According to the Daily Mail, fans of the photographers work noted several scenes in Rihanna’s racy music video that seemed to be completely inspired by LaChapelle. They weren’t pleased by the fact that the photographer was not mentioned as an obvious source of inspiration for the video.

Even so, that controversy seems to be rather mild when compared to this particular case. The images used in that video were clearly inspired by David’s work rather than exact duplicates of his images. With “B**ch Better Have My Money,” it sounds like Rihanna may have taken a little too much from the source and gifted Just Brittany a strong case against her in court.

Assuming Rihanna and her people don’t settle out of court, they may find themselves “owing” millions of dollars. This is what happened to artists Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke over their 2013 smash hit “Blurred Lines.” The estate of deceased soul singer Marvin Gaye sued over music by the artist featured on the track that was not properly credited and paid for. If Rihanna wants to avoid a similar legal scandal, she’d better take a lesson from the title of her single.

Do you think Rihanna really stole from Just Brittany or has the matter been blown way out of proportion?

[Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Staff/Getty Imnages]