What's Yours Is Mine: When Cover Songs Spark Beef

Lupe and Pete's row isn't the first remake-related tiff.

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Etta James vs. Beyoncé - Etta James had previously praised Beyoncé for playing her in the film Cadillac Records, but the legendary chanteuse changed her tune when Bey took on her signature song, "At Last," at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration. “That woman he had singing for him, singing my song — she's going to get her a-- whipped,” James said onstage at a show soon after. “I can't stand Beyoncé. She has no business up there, singing up there on a big ol' president day, gonna be singing my song that I've been singing forever." 
Young Chop vs. Kanye West - Most up-and-coming producers would give their left ear to be remixed by Kanye — but not Young Chop. The rookie beatmaker blasted fellow Chi native Kanye West earlier this year for repurposing his beat for Chief Keef's anthemic "I Don't Like."I just felt disrespected ’cause I didn’t even hear the song before it dropped, and I kept telling them that I wanna hear the song," Chop said of the remix. "I ain’t know the song was changed over like that....That’s not my sound." Kanye never responded directly, but his G.O.O.D. Music signee Pusha T seemed to be talking about Chop when he rapped, "You can keep your beats, n---a / We'd much rather share your b---h, n---a," on "Exodus 23:1" earlier this year. (Photos from left: Courtesy YoungChopBeatz.com, WENN.com)Drake vs. Olivia - Drake was none too happy when reality star and R&B songstress Olivia repurposed an old, unreleased verse of his for "Control," a song from her mixtape Under the Radar. "I support artist collaborations and sampling music that inspires you, but I don't support taking unauthorized recordings and marketing them as features," Drake said in April. "I've never worked with Olivia, and I apologize to any fan who was duped into thinking that 'Control' was a collaboration of mine." Olivia didn't hold her tongue in response. "I think that was corny, because it's a mixtape," she told MTV. "He started off doing mixtapes." (Photos: Robin Marchant/Getty Images for ESPN); John Ricard/BET) 

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Uncovered: When Cover Songs Spark Beef - Cover songs and remixes are usually intended to be tributes to the original, but it doesn't always work out that way. Last week, sparks flew when Lupe Fiasco released "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)," which reworked the classic 1992 Pete Rock & CL Smooth track "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)." Pete Rock, who produced the track as a tribute to his deceased friend, Heavy D & the Boyz member Troy "Trouble T" Dixon, lit into the Chicago rapper via Twitter: "No disrespect to Lupe Fiasco and i like him a lot, but 'T.R.O.Y.' should be left alone," PR wrote. "Feel so violated the beat is next to my heart and was made outta anguish and pain." Pete later said that the two had talked and the beef had been squashed, but Lupe later said that wasn't true. Whatever the outcome, it isn't the...

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