S. Samuel
New York rap veteran Lord Finesse has confirmed his past issues with Mac Miller over the unauthorized usage of his "Hip 2 Da Game" 1996 anthem are settled despite a publicized $10 million lawsuit last year.
According to Finesse, there is no bad blood between him and Miller since coming to a legal agreement last December.
Finesse claims that the lawsuit was blown out of proportion and that he and Miller remain amicable. “I don’t have no beef with Mac,” Finesse says. “I think Mac is a cool dude. But [the lawsuit] became a lightning rod and people made it more than what it really was. It’s just the way the media makes it look. At this point, I just want to move forward and I wish Mac the best moving forward. “I’m just glad that it’s over and I’m definitely relieved that we moved past this,” he adds. “From day one, I never looked publicly to use this for attention and I purposely never talked about this from the beginning. This will be the only time I speak on this.” (FUSE TV)
Around mid-January, Miller could not dish out too many details but confirmed they had settled the case.
“I’m actually legally not allowed to say anything about what happened,” Miller said. “Other than that it’s been resolved and we didn’t go to [trial]. If that was really a problem, people would be getting sued left and right.” (Complex)
According to reports a day prior, the legal matter officially got settled in early December.
According to court records obtained by HipHopDX, a successful settlement conference for this case was conducted in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman for the Southern District of New York on December 6, 2012. A settlement conference is a mandatory mediation attempt initiated by the trial judge, which Federal District Judge Harold Baer ordered on September 21, 2012. The settlement conference process is confidential and details as to the terms of the settlement reached between the involved parties are not disclosed to anyone other than Judge Baer. (HHDX)
Prior to reaching an agreement, Finesse issued a statement on the publicized dispute.
“Permission was never given. A lot of money was made on my song,” he continued. “At the end of the day, I only stepped to these people for proper credit and compensation. I have done a lot of great things in hip hop and I never wanted a lawsuit. Never. I made every attempt to resolve this. But, when I reached out to these people their attitude was I should be grateful Mac was using my music to sell out concerts because it keeps me relevant. How does it keep me relevant if I’m not being credited or compensated? You’ve heard Mac, you’ve heard a portion of it from me. The truth will come out in court.” (Statement)
