90s music duo Right Said Fred called Beyonce “arrogant” for sampling their 1992 hit “I’m Too Sexy” on her Renaissance track “Alien Superstar.” They 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.”
Drake sampled the track for his 2021 hit “Way 2 Sexy” while Swift had employed the song in her 2017 “Reputation” lead single “Look What You Made Me Do.”
They continued, “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 credi. With this Beyoncé thing there are 22 writers it’s ridiculous so we would get about 40 [pounds].”
RSF said that they believe this has happened 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.”
They added that they feel powerless to “stop” the singer, saying, “There is nothing we can do. It is s–t. 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.” They concluded that it’s best to “let it go.”
This isn’t the first time that Beyonce has been accused of sampling without reaching out to the artist. Back in July, Kelis accused Beyonce of sampling her hit “Milkshake” without her permission.