Raymond Jones of rap group Hotstylz is said to be suing Eminem and his label Interscope for $8m over the use of an alleged sample on Rap God.
Taken from The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem’s Rap God is well known for its scattergun lyrics, and holds the world record for most words in a song. Under four minutes long, it rattles through 1,560 words, with one section featuring 97 in 15 seconds.
However, Jones, also known as Raydio G, claims the single features a 25-second use of Hotstylz’s 2007 track Lookin’ Boy, and is requesting millions from the rapper in payment, according to website TMZ.
Speaking to XXL in November 2014, members of Hotstylz referred to the supposed similarities between the songs and suggested that the group had not been asked for permission. “At first,” said Jones, “we was like, ‘Aight, cool’, but at the same time, we was like, ‘Fuck Eminem’ because he didn’t reach out to us.
“He took so much of the record. That just don’t sit right with us. The thing is they used so much of the song, he could have reached out. He could have reached out to us directly. He could have found a way to reach out to us through some kind of channel. We just addressed that issue on a song called Rap Fraud. We addressed how we felt about it.”
A representative for the rapper has not yet responded to these allegations.
Listen to both tracks below. The alleged sample begins at 2:16.
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