A copyright infringment
lawsuit involving the #1 single "Baby Boy" by Beyonce Knowles was dismissed
in a US District Court. In July 2004, Jennifer Armour filed a lawsuit against
Beyonce and other writers and producers of the song, which include Scott Storch,
rapper Jay-Z, Jamaican artist Sean Paul and Sony Music, claiming "Baby Boy"
was similiar to her song "Got a Little Bit of Love for You." Armour
said she shopped the single and eventually submitted it to Beyonce’s father Mathew
Knowles in March of 2003. In the lawsuit Armour, who is from Minneapolis, Minnesota,
said she noticed Knowles and Sean Paul performing a similiar song titled "Baby
Boy," during the Macy’s 4th of July celebration. Armour claimed the song’s
lyrics and hook were taken from her song. According to Mathew Knowles, Beyonce’s
single was actually recorded in February 2003. It was released on Beyonce’s 2003
solo debut Dangerously in Love, which topped Billboard’s Top 200
chart and has sold over 11 millions copies worldwide. The court did a comparison
of the songs and ruled that the songs were substantially different. "It’s
unfortunate that lawsuits such as this one occur, but I am grateful and relieved
to have this behind me and I am eager to move on," Knowles said in a statement.
The
Ying Yang Twins have announced that they have renamed their fifth album from 2
Live Crew
to Chemically Imbalanced. The album, which is slated to hitstores in Nov. 2006, is being executive produced by Michael "Mr. Collipark"
Crooms, Wyclef Jean and Jerry "Wonder" Duplesis. "We renamed it
[that] because we’re totally opposite, we are never on the same page but we wind
up in the same place," said group member Kaine. "It has everything to
do with chemistry and how we interact witheach other individually we are
imbalanced but together we equal each other out." The Ying Yang Twins have
targeted strip clubs with the teaser single "1st Booty On Duty." Chemically
Imbalanced’s first official single is "Dangerous," which was co-produced
by Wyclef, Jerry Womder & Mr. Collipark. "Working with Wyclef and Jerry
Wonder has pushed Ying Yang Twins and our sound to a whole another level,"
assured Mr. Collipark.Jay-Z
has partnered with the Emmy-award winning Inside the NBA show and TNT to
star in a series of exclusive commercials promoting the 2006-2007 NBA season on
TNT. The eight :30 second spots feature Jay-Z riding through the streets of Manhattan
in a chauffer-driven car as he reveals his views on talent, legacy, competition
and stardom, prior to the Nov. 21 release of his highly anticipated comeback album,
Kingdom Come. The first promo is titled “The Truth About Stardom,”
featuring Jay-Z’s take on living life in the spotlight. The spots start running
on Thursday (Oct. 5) with more being rolled out in the following weeks. An extended
director’s cut of the interview will also be made available exclusively on
TNT OverTime on NBA.com. “The new approach to our NBA on TNT promo series
featuring Jay Z is dramatic, smart and provocative,” said Craig Barry, Turner
Sports VP/Creative Director. “Using Jay-Z’s own words and powerhouse
persona, we wanted to showcase his sophisticated style to parallel the tenets
of sports and music.” TNT tip’s off its 2006-07 NBA coverage takes place
on Thurs., Oct. 19 at 10 p.m. ET.
