S. Samuel
Former early 1990's rap star MC Eiht is reportedly putting his foot down on USA Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte's pursuit to trademark the phrase "Jeah."
According to Eiht, Lochte has no right to trademark a catchphrase he made popular decades ago.
Eiht tells TMZ he coined the phrase back in 1988 and is insulted to hear Lochte is trying to claim it as his own now. Eiht tells us, “Why try and trademark something his a** didn’t even create? I am mad that he isn’t giving me proper recognition for taking my saying. He is just disrespectful.” The Compton’s Most Wanted rapper tells TMZ he’s not so much concerned about the money as he is the “respect and the truth.” Eiht says he plans on sending a cease and desist letter urging Lochte to stop using his phrase. Lochte’s manager tells us, “Ryan has been using JEAH for years,” adding, “This is the first I have heard of this claim by MC Eiht.” (TMZ)
Reports of Lochte’s trademark plans surfaced across the Internet yesterday (August 17).
Ryan Lochte’s annoying catchphrase “Jeah!” is a friggin’ GOLD MINE — at least that’s what the swimmer believes … because he just filed docs to lock up a trademark for the made-up word. According to the trademark docs, Ryan wants to use the word on sunglasses, workout DVDs, gift cards, mugs, drinking glasses, trading cards, calendars, posters, swimsuits, swim caps, sports hats, and water bottles. In fact, Lochte’s already getting the party started on his website — selling “Jeah”-themed tees, hats, and sunglasses. (TMZ)
Three years ago, the gold medal-winning swimmer admitted “Jeah” stemmed from rapper Young Jeezy‘s “Yeah” ad lib.
Yo, WTF is Ryan Lochte doing with his life right now? Earlier today, we showed you the horrible cameo that he’s going to make on the show 90210 this fall. And, now comes the news that Lochte is trying to trademark the word “Jeah!” which he openly admitted to jacking from Young Jeezy back in 2009 (for the record, yes, we know Jeezy isn’t the first or only rapper to use it). His plan is to take the catch phrase–which he says he derived from Jeezy’s “Chea!”–and stick it on sunglasses, T-shirts, and other merchandise alongside his nickname “Reezy” in order to profit off his current popularity. (Complex)
Texas rapper Paul Wall recently made him an Olympic-themed ice grill.
“For him to represent us and our culture, the grill culture, it’s just shining a light on hip-hop in the Olympics,” said the People’s Champ, who’s currently working on a new mixtape with DJ Whoo Kid. “Everyone’s talking about it…it’s just an incredible thing to be part of. I’m just honored to be part of it. There’s not too many world-class swimmers wearing our grill.” (XXL Mag)
Check out MC Eiht’s “Geez Make The Hood Go Round” remix below:
