TOO SEXY FOR PERMISSION: Right Said Fred slams ‘arrogant’ Beyonce for sampling hit without consent
Queen Bey is embroiled in a dispute over her highly acclaimed Renaissance album with a '90s UK band. The band Right Said Fred slammed Beyoncé for allegedly not seeking their consent before using a sample of her song 'I'm Too Sexy' in the song 'Alien Superstar' from her latest album Renaissance.
Brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass called the 'Partition' singer "arrogant" and also mentioned that other well-known industry figures, including Taylor Swift and Drake, had come forward to use rhythmic elements in their respective songs 'Look What You Made Me Do' and 'Way 2 Sexy.' Right Said Fred's debut single 'I'm Too Sexy' reached number two on the UK charts and topped the charts in seven other countries. The band released it in 1991.
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Beyoncé's 'Alien Superstar,' released earlier this year, has 71 million streams on Spotify and 9.8 million views on YouTube. Fans believed that Beyoncé had received permission from Right Said Fred to use the song, but it seems she made no attempt to contact them.
Speaking to The Sun, Right Said Fred said, "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." Along with Future and Young Thug, Drake used the song in his 2021 hit Way 2 Sexy. Taylor chose to use the well-known song on the lead single from her 2017 album Reputation, Look What You Made Me Do, which peaked at number one on the UK charts. The brothers said, "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-writing credit. With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22 writers it’s ridiculous so we would get about 40p." They added, "The reason that is happening we think is because there is so little money now in the actual salespeople like friends, golfing partners, engineers, bookers, and the guy who brings the coke, they all want a cut."
The duo reportedly feels helpless to hold Jay Z's star wife who is worth an astounding $511 million. They stated, "We can't stop it. There is nothing we can do. It is s***. 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."