Do you remember Jay Z’s ‘Big Pimpin’? As one of his most iconic hits, I’m sure you do. Well, we can now add Jay Z and Timbaland to the list of stars who have found themselves in court over a dispute over proper sampling. During the start of the production aspect for Jay’s massive hit, Timbaland referenced a track which we now know as ‘Khosara, Khosara’ by Baligh Hamdy. Ultimately paying $100,000 to EMI for the use of the sample, things appeared to be settled until a lawsuit was filed by Osama Ahmed Fahmy, the composer’s nephew. The lawsuit claims that ‘Big Pimpin’ serves as a blatant copy and therefore, more money needs to be distributed.
The lawsuit, filed in 2007 in California federal court, comes from Osama Ahmed Fahmy, the nephew of Hamdy, who is targeting Jay Z, Timbaland, EMI, Universal Music, Paramount Pictures (over a Jay Z documentary), MTV (over a Jay Z special) and others. After all, “Big Pimpin” has been exploited by many.
Holding the title as one of America’s longest ongoing lawsuits, the Hip-Hop legend and producer will find themselves in court on October 13th to plead their sides of the argument. Mr. Fahmy isn’t going down without a fight as he’s tapped Judith Finell, the musicologist that played a key role in the case of Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ lawsuit. Seeing that payment was already completed to the sample’s composer, there may not be much left to argue. Then again, stranger things have happened. We’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out. For now, you can read more about this lengthy case, here.
