Beyoncé And Jay-Z Are Being Sued For ‘Drunk In Love’
Beyoncé and Jay-Z made one of the greatest hits of the year, but now everything is at risk. Apparently, “Drunk in Love” isn’t as original as it seems. Hungarian singer Mitsou has filed a lawsuit against Beyoncé, Jay-Z and the producers of the song (including Timbaland) because the track allegedly uses Mitsou’s voice for more than a minute throughout the song.
She claims that they sampled and digitally manipulated her performance from 1995, using her vocals singing the traditional Roma folk song called “Bajba, Bajba Pelem” without any permission given by her.
In the lawsuit that Mitsou filled on Friday in Manhattan civil court, she is seeking unspecified damages and says that no one asked for her permission to use her vocals, nor did she ever sign any documents that would permit someone to use her voice for advertisement or trade purposes. She also claims that she didn’t know about her part in the song until a friend mentioned it to her — then the shock came.
The Hungarian singer said that Beyoncé and Jay-Z don’t deserve all the credit. In fact, according to MTV, Bey and Jay don’t deserve 29 percent of the credit, because that’s how long the parts of Mitsou’s singing are in “Drunk in Love.” She claims that “Drunk in Love” begins with 13 seconds of her a cappella solo. Then her voice continues to sing as Beyoncé starts to sing. That goes up until 41 second mark. After that, her vocals reappear while Jay-Z raps from 3:14 until 4:05, for a total of 51 seconds. The sample of her song, recorded with her folk band, Ando Drom, has been featured more than 1.5 minutes in the 5.5-minutes-long tune. Among other things, the suit says the following.
“Following Mitsou’s stirring featured solo vocal introduction, Mitsou’s voice continues to sing as Beyonce begins to sing, to evoke foreign eroticism alongside the sexually intense lyrics performed by Beyoncé and Jay-Z in ‘Drunk in Love.'”
According to E Online, Mitsou’s song is about the following.
“Hopelessness, when one can no longer trust anyone but her own mother and God.”
All that remains for us is to wait and see what will happen with this lawsuit and song. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Timbaland have decided not to respond to E! News’ requests for comments. Although all are innocent until proven guilty, this just might not be the case where silence will set you free. So, while we wait, let’s hear the original song.
