A Syracuse, New York rapper who goes by the name
of The Most Talented has a new single out, "Clepto," aimed at some
of the biggest names in hip-hop.
According to The Most Talented, who’s real name
is Khalid Bey, six rap stars have stolen or used his material. On "Clepto,"
he specifically calls out Canibus, Ja-Rule, Jay-Z, DMX, Naughty By Nature and
Lauryn Hill.
"These are six people who either directly
or indirectly used something of mine, whether it was a punch line or choruses,"
Bey told the Syracuse newspaper The Standard.
Bay, who runs his own record label, Whatever
You Want Music, claims that he wrote Naughty By Nature’s#### song "Hip
Hop Horray" in the 90’s and performed it while he was still a student at
Virginia State University. He sent the demo to a variety of major labels, and
that’s how he claims Naughty ended with the finished version.
When asked why Bey didn’t take the artists to
court, he said that the Library of Congress misfiled the paper work for his
copyright and that his uncle lost the receipt.
"An (artist and repertoire agent’s) job
is to find material for their artists," Bey says. "So they receive
demos, and they find material on them that they use for their artists."
While the exact nature of his beef’s with Canibus,
DMX, Jay-Z and Lauryn Hill aren’t clear, his problem with Ja-Rule stems from
the multi-platinum artist calling himself "the world’s most talented artist
working for the world’s most talented label." Bey claims that he sent a
package to Ja-Rule’s agent.
"That was the last straw," Bey said.
"I figure what will come out of this is a lot of publicity that we deserve,"
Bey says. "I’m not out to destroy anybody. I’m not out to defame. I’m out
to say at least give credit where credit is due. I don’t want them to give me
no cash or even be apologetic."
Bey doesn’t feel like he is just dissing well
known artists to cash in, he feels that they actually owe him. "If they’re
going to grab onto me to stay afloat, I’m going to grab onto them.," he
continued.