Beyoncé yesterday (Feb. 8) was hit with a massive $20 million lawsuit. The suit pertains to a sample of the late rapper Messy Mya used on her song “Formation”, off of her most recent album Lemonade, which the plaintiff alleges was used without permission.
The Louisiana rapper, real name Anthony Barre, was shot and killed in 2010. However, his estate is bringing forth the lawsuit to obtain credit and remuneration for the use of two samples on “Formation”.
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“Defendants used Mr. Barre’s voice, performance and words from his copyrighted works to create the tone, mood, setting and location of the New Orleans-themed ‘Formation,'” reads the filing.
Apart from the remuneration, the estate is asking for royalties, songwriting and producing credits on the hit song.
Specifically, the estate is suing over the use of the lyrics, “What happened at the New Orleans” and “B****, I'm back by popular demand” from Barre’s track, “Booking the Hoes From New Wildings.”
Take a listen to Messy Mya’s track here (warning: the video contains strong language) and draw your own conclusions.