S. Samuel
A day after reports surfaced claiming rapper Mac Miller had finally settled a $10 million lawsuit filed against him courtesy of rap veteran Lord Finesse, the Pittsburgh emcee has stepped forward.
Although he could not spill any details, Miller did confirm all parties involved avoided a messy trial.
“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 yesterday reports, the legal matter officially got settled last month.
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)
Reports of the pricey lawsuit sent shockwaves throughout the Internet in July.
Rapper Lord Finesse says in a $10 million lawsuit that 20-year-old rap star Mac Miller ripped off his 1995 hit “Hip 2 Da Game” to launch his music career. “This is a case about a teenage rapper- Mac Miller- copying the music from a song written, produced and performed by Lord Finesse, a hip hop legend, changing the title and then distributing it under his own name in order to launch his music career,” the complaint states. “In 2010, Mac Miller recorded himself rapping over Finesse’s music and renamed the song ‘Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza’ (‘The Kool Aid Song’),” according to the complaint. Miller signed with Rostrum in July 2010 and released a mix tape called “K.I.D.S.: Kickin’ Incredibly Dope Sh*t,” which contained “Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza.” (Court House News)
