Chris Brown Sued For $1.5m Over ‘Sample’ Of Red Rat’s Dancehall Classic “Tight Up Skirt”

Chris Brown, and Sony Music, who distributed the song that allegedly illegally sampled Red Rat’s classic, are being sued for copyright infringement by Greensleeves Publishing Limited, a New York-based record label. The lawsuit by Greensleeves Record accuses Chris Brown, his music producers, and Sony Music of ripping off one of dancehall’s most iconic hits- “Tight Up Skirt,” which has become a classic from the 90s dancehall era.

Brown is accused of using the iconic line from the song released in 1997 for his 2017 hit “Privacy,” which is now a Recording Industry Association of America platinum-certified single. According to legal documents obtained by Urban Islandz, Chris Brown, in particular, used Red Rat’s line “aye you girl inna the tight up skirt” in his chorus without authorization, which is the same line that Red Rat used to start the 90s dancehall mega-hit.

The copyright lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court in New York, Music Business Worldwide reported. According to Greensleeves, which claims to own rights to the song, the single was released in 1997 and quickly went to number one on local Jamaican music charts.