Beyoncé Deemed “Arrogant” For Allegedly Not Clearing An “ALIEN SUPERSTAR” Sample
Beyoncé’s “ALIEN SUPERSTAR” interpolates ’90s pop band Right Said Fred’s hit single, “I’m Too Sexy,” but the group is considering her to be “arrogant” for not going through them to clear the sample.
Right Said Fred—comprised of brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass—spoke out about their issue with Bey at the 2022 Broadcast Music Inc. [BMI] Awards, held on Monday (Oct. 3).
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“Normally, the artist approaches us but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person. She just had probably thought ‘come and get me’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did. But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us,” the English duo explained to The Sun.
Drake sampled their record last year for “Way 2 Sexy” from Certified Lover Boy featuring Future and Young Thug.
The Fairbrass brothers continued, “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. With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22 writers it’s ridiculous […] The reason that is happening we think is 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. We can’t stop it. There is nothing we can do. It is s**t.”
This isn’t the first time the 41-year-old singer got slammed for reportedly not going through an artist for consideration purposes when it came to sampling their work.
Robin S., the singer behind “Show Me Love,” which is the foundation of RENAISSANCE‘s lead single, “BREAK MY SOUL,” revealed that she found out the song’s usage on social media.
“It doesn’t have to be confirmed. A singer knows her songs,” she told Good Morning Britain back in June. “My son called me and he’s like, ‘Mom, mom, you’re trending all over the place! Beyoncé put her song out and it’s ‘Show Me Love’ and you’re trending everywhere!”
Kelis also expressed her outrage regarding the usage of her classic record, “Milkshake.” The song has since been removed from RENAISSANCE.
Overall, it appears Right Said Fred isn’t going to pursue the matter beyond this response. “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. It’s best to let it go. If you’re not careful you spend your life looking back. We keep looking forward the whole time,” they stated.
Watch an archival performance of “I’m Too Sexy” below.
