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Right Said Fred, the English pop duo best known for their massive hit “I’m Too Sexy,” is the latest musical act daring to take aim at Beyoncé over music sampling concerns. A member of the group told a media outlet that he viewed the Houston superstar as “arrogant” for not reaching out to the band to use a sample of their aforementioned smash hit.
Right Said Fred spoke with The UK Sun about the use of “I’m Too Sexy” for Beyoncé’s “Alien Superstar” track from her latest studio album, Renaissance. According to the band, they feel that Queen Bey should have reached out to them before taking a portion of their record to add to her own music.
From The Sun:
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.
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-write credit. With this Beyoncé thing there are 22 writers it’s ridiculous so we would get about 40p.
“The reason that is happening we think is because there is so little money now in the actual sales people like friends, golfing partners, engineers, bookers and the guy who brings the coke, they all want a cut.
A rep for Beyoncé also gave a statement from The Sun claiming “the accusation was false”:
“The comments made by Right Said Fred stating that Beyonce used “I’m Too Sexy” in “Alien Superstar” without permission are erroneous and incredibly disparaging.
Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album.
For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilized.
Permission was asked of their publisher on May 11, 2022 and the publisher approved the use on June 15, 2022. They were paid for the usage in August, 2022.
Furthermore, the copyright percentage of the Right Said Fred writers with respect to the use of “I’m Too Sexy” is a substantial portion of the composition.
Collectively the Right Said Fred writers own more than any other singular writer and have co-writer credit.
This accusation is false. ”
Based on the above statements from Right Said Fred, it does appear that Beyoncé’s team did the right thing in getting the sample legally cleared, similarly to what her side did with Kelis earlier in the year which also garnered criticism.
It does not appear that Beyoncé has said anything to Right Said Fred or Kelis for that matter, at least in the public eye.
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