Joe’s hit remix of “Stutter” featuring Mystikal may be earning the R&B singer lots of money, but the Pharcyde producer whose beat is sampled on the song says he hasn’t seen one dime of the profits. J-Swift, who produced, arranged and co-wrote the Pharcyde’s biggest single, “Passin’ Me By,” which is sampled on the “Stutter” remix, is suing Jive Records, Zomba Recording Corporation and Touchstone Pictures for copyright infringement, among other charges, for approximately $11 million in damages and royalties. The producer claims that Jive never contacted him to get permission to use the track.
“People were coming up to me congratulating me, asking how much I was getting paid,” J-Swift said in a statement. “I went into the store to see if I had been credited, and saw everyone’s name listed but mine. They used my actual music. They even stole the lyrics and melody that I wrote. ‘My dear, my dear, my dear, you do not know me’ I own more of that song than anybody. Someone is always trying to sue rap producers because we sample older records, and now it’s ironic that they’re sampling a hip-hop record and not clearing it.”
