Music

Jay Z forgot he owned Tidal

by Jesse Locke

Jay Z and producer Timbaland are currently in court for a long-running lawsuit over their (mis)use of Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi’s 1957 love ballad “Khosara Khosara” in the 1999 hit “Big Pimpin’.” Listen to the source material below:

Lawyer Pete Ross, representing Hamdi’s heirs, has accused Jay Z of adding some nasty raps to “Khosara Khosara” without first clearing the sample. The lyrical complaint has been resolved as a non-issue, yet Jay and Tim are still in the midst of their own “Blurred Lines”/”Got to Give it Up” style debacle for allegedly failing to secure the appropriate rights.

When questioned about this questionable action, Jay Z stated that Timbaland’s beats are typically original compositions, and he felt no need to dig deeper.

“That’s not what I do. I make music,” he said. “I make music, I’m a rapper, I’ve got a clothing line, I run a label, a media label called Roc Nation, with a sports agency, music publishing and management. Restaurants and nightclubs … I think that about covers it.”

His attorney Andrew Bart added: “I’m not so sure. You have a music streaming service [Tidal], don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jay Z replied. “Forgot about that.”

For his testimony, Timbaland busted out a keyboard in the courtroom to prove his skills at composing a beat on the fly. Following some technical issues, he reportedly threw down some sick beatboxing instead. Every rap fan in the world wishes they could be a member of this jury.

[h/t FACTMag]