Lil' Kim Accused Of Stealing Lyrics From Jamaican Reggae Artist
Published Tuesday, 29th August, 2006 at 9:41 AM
Only several weeks after coming off house arrest, female rapper Lil' Kim has become the subject of another lawsuit.
The suit was filed last week in Manhattan Federal Court by Tanya Stephens, a Jamaican reggae singer/songwriter, claiming that Kim stole her lyrics and used them on her "The Naked Truth" album.
Stephens claims that the lyrics of Lil' Kim's "Durty" are almost identical to her own song, "Mi and Mi God", which was released in 1997. The lawsuit also says that Kim sang the song with a West Indian accent.
The reggae star says that the lyrics are so similar to her own that she should actually get legal ownership of the song. She also says that she should be entitled to all past and future royalties.
Lil' Kim's attorney has denied the allegations, saying, "The lawsuit against Atlantic Records and Lil' Kim is the result of Royalty Networks Inc's failed attempts to extract unreasonable sums and percentages of Lil' Kim's new song for an interpolated use of a song which happens all the time in Hip-Hop."
He continued: "There are no damages to Tanya Stephens, they never objected until after their efforts failed, and Kim was and remains willing to be fair. This matter should have been resolved but it appears to be another money and media play at Lil' Kim's expense. This issue was no secret. Kim was advised licenses were obtained by those who handle clearances at the time. We shall defend this action."
