A picture is worth 1,000 words. But that’s apparently nothing compared to what a whisper is worth.
A peeved New York rapper is suing Jay-Z for $88 million, claiming the superstar MC appropriated the other artist’s “whisper rapping” (aka rapping softly) technique and subsequently earned himself a whole lot of money.
Mitchell Rose says that he gave Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, a CD containing his lyrics on May 13, 2001, during a Felix Trinidad fight at Madison Square Garden, according to the one-page complaint filed May 23 (of this year) in U.S. District Court and obtained by TMZ.
The Kingdom Come rapper then “stole lyrics which resulted in copyright infringement by using selected parts of material” from Rose’s CD, the plaintiff alleges.
Rose is seeking the aforementioned $88 million for “loss opportunity and punitive damages for mental distress.”
Jay-Z’s reps have not commented on the suit. But really, what else is there to say?
