Beyoncé is on the spot again after another artist called her out for sampling a song without “permission.”
This time, UK pop duo Right Said Fred is tearing into Ms Carter for allegedly sampling their 1992 salacious hit, “I’m Too Sexy”, for her song, “Alien Superstar,” the NYPost reported.
The single is part of Beyoncé’s hit album “Renaissance,” which debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart in August.
“Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn’t because she’s such an arrogant person,” Right Said Fred said in an interview with the Sun. “She just had probably thought ‘come and get me,’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did.”
The pop duo found the supposed song sampling especially disturbing as many artists had previously asked permission to include the track. “Everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us,” RSF insisted.
Drake did sample the song for his 2021 track “Way 2 Sexy,” while Taylor used the track in her 2017 lead single “Look What You Made Me Do.”
“To use our melody, they need our permission, so they send us the demo, and we approve it and if so, we get a co-write credit,” Right Said Fred continued. “With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22 writers. It’s ridiculous, so we would get about 40 (pounds).”
RSF said they also believe that the covert sampling occurs “because there is so little money now in the actual sales, people like friends, golfing partners, engineers, bookers and the guy who brings the coke, they all want a cut.”
Nonetheless, the Right Said Fred brothers claim they feel helpless and are not able to “stop” Ms Carter, who is reportedly worth over $500 million and has 28 Grammy awards under her belt, the most of any female performer in history.
“There is nothing we can do. It is s–t,” lamented the Fairbrass brothers. “You are going to get into a conversation with someone who has a lot more presence and power and money than we do. And that won’t go well.”
They ended the conversation by saying it’s best to “let it go” and look toward the future.
Oddly enough, Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” is sampled from a Jimi Hendrix tune, which the band didn’t realize until much later, at which point they compensated the guitarist’s estate for the privilege.
“I wasn’t aware that our guitarist, Rob Manzoli, had played the riff from Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Third Stone From the Sun’ on ‘I’m Too Sexy’ until much later,” Fred Fairbrass told the Guardian in a 2017 interview.
“I thought the guitar parts sounded like the theme from Coronation Street, but the Hendrix estate were very cool about it and just asked for a writing credit and a charitable donation.”
Now, in a statement released to The Sun, Beyoncé has given her side of the story.
The statement reads: “The comments made by Right Said Fred stating that Beyoncé used “I’m Too Sexy” in “Alien Superstar” without permission are erroneous and incredibly disparaging.”
“Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album. For their song, there was no sound recording use; only the composition was utilized.”
The statement continues, “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.”
“Furthermore, the copyright percentage of the Right Said Fred writers with respect to the use of “I’m Too Sexy” is a substantial portion of the composition. Collectively the Right Said Fred writers own more than any other singular writer and have co-writer credit.”
“This accusation is false.”
