Mr. Vegas called into Hot 97’s Ebro In The Morning Monday (May 16) to clarify a statement he made on Facebook earlier this week calling Drake “fake” for not properly crediting Dancehall artists on VIEWS.
The Kingston, Jamaica-bred musician makes it clear that he doesn’t appreciate Drizzy turning Beenie Man into what he labels as an “intro artist” or “hype man” after sampling The King of Dancehall’s “Tear Off Mi Garment” on “Controlla” and for taking Popcaan off the same track much to the dismay of fans. Drake also sampled Popcaan’s “Luh Yuh Bad” on “Too Good” which features the biggest Bajan singer you know, Rihanna.
“Why did Drake link Beenie Man to on sing back that record if that’s the one he wanted? Or why let Beenie Man do something new?” Mr. Vegas asks during his Facebook Live broadcast on Monday (May 16). “So then I’m listening to the record further and at the end of the record when the record done, you can hear the record fin, Beenie Man doing the outro. So I’m like, Drake is rampaning my artists. You using my artists as intro men.”
Mr. Vegas admits during his interview with Ebro that he wishes Drake would have just visibly credited who was featured on the song, even though some of the reggae artists are named in the credits for VIEWS.
AD LOADING...
“On the records that Jamaican artists are sampled, no one even sees their names,” he says. “If you were really into the culture and into the artists, at least you would have put some respeck on [their] names on the album.”
“One Dance” is the only Dancehall-esque cut on VIEWS that visibly credited the artists sampled on the record, Nigerian musician WizKid and British singer Kyla.
“When a Drake or a Rihanna or anyone who has a big machine behind them, a Justin Bieber, make a dancehall record it goes to the top,” Vegas continues. “When a dancehall record is from Jamaica and we take it to other markets outside of New York, Hartford and maybe Miami, we have a problem to get it on. If you are going to come to this culture put on properly and give them an opportunity to create a name for themselves outside of their base market. What is so wrong with giving someone proper crediting?”
Mr. Vegas’ Hot97 interview and Facebook Live broadcast are below.
