MERRICK Dammar, the New York-based attorney-at-law representing Red Rat, says legal action will taken against Greensleeves Publishing Ltd for suing American singer Chris Brown without the deejay’s consent.
“The actions of Greensleeves and others involved in the lawsuit are unsanctioned by Mr Wallace and it comes as a shock. Everyone has a right to do what they want, whether right or wrong, and those actions will be taken into account by the court. Unfortunately, people do things every day that we question and, at this time, my main focus is protecting the rights of Red Rat and we will be doing an analysis of the strategy to determine the next step,” the lawyer told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.
“I’m acting strictly on the rights of my clients and have eliminated my feelings from this. My professional opinion is that this is very unfortunate,” he continued.
“Wallace” refers to Red Rat, whose given name is Wallace Wilson.
Asked whether Red Rat intends to pursue a lawsuit against Brown, Dammar said, “Every possibility is on the table.”
Last week, news broke that Greensleeves was suing Brown for US$1.5 million for allegedly infringing on the copyright of Red Rat’s 1997 hit Tight Up Skirt. The company argued that the American singer used the same hook from the song in his 2017 song Privacy from the Heartbreak on a Full Moon album.
Produced by Andrew “Buccaneer” Bradford for the Opera House label, Tight Up Skirt was number one on local charts in 1997. It was also featured on Red Rat’s debut album for Greensleeves Records’ Oh No… It’s Red Rat.
United Kingdom-based Greensleeves Publishing Ltd is owned by VP Records, which acquired it in 2008.
In 2017, Red Rat spoke with the Jamaica Observer in an exclusive interview about Chris Brown’s sampling his song.
“Ever since Chris Brown was in the studio recording the song Privacy and posted it on social media, I have been getting many calls left and right from many people asking me about my thoughts regarding him sampling Tight Up Skirt, and all I can say is: ‘Give God all the glory,’ “ Red Rat was quoted as saying three weeks after Brown released his single.
“I think that because Chris Brown, who is one of the biggest pop stars globally, feeling the need to sample a piece of Tight Up Skirt only shows how much he loves and respects Red Rat and his catalogue. It also shows how much of a fan he is to the music,” he continued.
In 2013, dancehall singjay Samantha J also sampled the 1990s hit with her remake titled Tight Skirt. She subsequently won the 2014 Youth View Award for Favourite Breakout Celebrity with the track.
Red Rat emerged on the music scene in 1996 with the hit song Shelly Ann. His other songs include Dwayne, Charlene, Rumours, and Nuh Live Nuh Weh.