On Tuesday, Oct. 5, a day after music producer Tainy held a special video screening for his upcoming song “Lo Siento BB:/,” the producer, along with Bad Bunny, were hit with a lawsuit for the track “Safaera” from Bad Bunnys chart-topping album, YHLQMDLG.
The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 27 by AOM Music Inc, states that Bad Bunny, Tainy, Randy & Jowell, as well as other artist and music groups, engaged in “unauthorized incorporation” by using three of DJ Playero’s songs. “Besa Tu Cuerpo,” “Chocha Con Bicho,” and “Sigan Bailando” were all used in the track “Safaera,” for which no license or “authorization was obtained” according to the suit.
The track mentioned is from Bad Bunny’s second album, YHLQMDLG, which took home Album of The Year at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards. Aside from interpolating DJ Playero’s three tracks, the song also includes the well-known hook to Missy Elliot’s “Get Your Freak On.” Additionally, the plaintiffs made a point to highlight the discrepancies in accrediting the appropriate parties.
“On information and belief, Defendants were well aware of the need to ‘clear’ the various third-party works sampled on ‘Safaera’ by obtaining licenses to each, as demonstrated by the fact that, for example, Melissa Elliott p/k/a Missy Elliot is credited as a writer on ‘Safaera’ due to its sampling of her hit song ‘Get Ur Freak On.'”
DJ Playero rose to fame in the ’90s with the success of his mixtapes, Playero 37: Underground and Playero Greatest Hits: Street Mix 2. His work has been credited as the foundation that helped launch the current reggaeton scene. After news broke of the lawsuit, Playero took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the issue. In a lengthy statement, the artist speaks about the honor it is to know that he helped open the door for artists, such as Bad Bunny, whom he respects, to succeed and move the genre forward.
While he wishes no ill will towards Tainy, Bad Bunny, and any of the other artists and groups named in the lawsuit, he did use the moment to set the record straight about the rights to his work over the past fifteen years.
“I, DJ Playero, am not signed with anyone. I do not know that company. I do not profit from anyone, and I have no knowledge of that lawsuit,” he stated. “I ask you to give me the space to inform myself with my lawyers and take the best action in this regard.”
The company he refers to is Florida-based AOM Music Inc., which operates its business under the name BM Records, and owns the rights to Playero’s collective works. Pedro Merced founded BM Records in 1978 and became a platform for the underground reggaeton music scene sweeping Puerto Rico. In 1998, both of Playero’s mixtapes were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and listed BM Records, known as Latin Music Dist., Inc. at the time, as the works copyright claimant. In July 2020, Playero’s music transferred over to the now renamed BM Records by the method of Copyright assignment.
Merced is asking for $150,000 in statutory damages for each infringed work, including attorneys’ fees and costs.
News of the lawsuit came a day after Tainy held a private viewing of his new music video, “Lo Siente BB:/,” where fans not only witnessed an early preview of the video but also snagged exclusive merchandise. The release of the song came on the heels of Tainy winning Billboard Latin’s “Producer of The Year” award for the second consecutive year and earning four nominations at this years 2021 Latin GRAMMY Awards for Album of the Year, as the producer of Bad Bunny’s “El Último Tour Del Mundo,” “Song of the Year” for “Agua,” and Best Urban Song for “Agua” and “Dákiti.”
With this newest hit, Tainy further consolidates his status as one of the music industry’s most preeminent and prominent producers. “Lo Siento BB:/,” which includes Bad Bunny and Mexican-American singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas, comes across as one of his more dreamlike and nostalgic-filled songs with beats and rhythms that are soft, surreal, and more calmative.
“This track is a dream come true. It’s been a long journey to finally get to release a part of the work from my upcoming debut album, and I think there’s no better way than this to kick it all off. I am a huge fan of both these artists and to have been able to bring them into my creative space and create something really different not heard before makes me so happy!” shared Tainy.
The Latin Grammy nominee called on two equally emblematic vocalists to help bring life into his vision for the song and take it to another level. Julieta Venegas lends her dynamic and incomparable vocals, setting the pace and landscape, while Bad Bunny’s smooth and rhythmic vocalization narrates the scene.
“Working with Tainy is always a pleasure. The world knows that when we get together, we make magic. What’s so special about this track? That in this one, I have the honor of sharing vocals on the same track with Julieta Venegas, something I never imagined, and that’s why it fills me with so much emotion,” said Bad Bunny.
Directed by STILLZ and produced by We Own The City, the video for “Lo Siento BB:/” starts off with a devious Tainy who is uploading data into a female robot as she rests in a capsule, which causes her to enter a dream state with the data she receives from his music. What follows next is a fantasy world filled with romantic hues on a dry landscape. Next, Julieta Venegas enters with her soul vocals that lead the way into the video’s primary focus, which features Bad Bunny in a maze-like realm as a monster roams the streets of a desolate-looking San Francisco in search of his love interest.
“Tainy contacted me through my publisher, and made me the best possible invitation ever. He told me, I have a song with Bad Bunny, and I would like you to write something, a response to what he is saying. It’s a song that talks about not believing in love, wanting just a fun night and that’s it, but mostly out of fear, I like that love comes out portrayed as someone who cheats “that guy always lies to me”. As if it were a person. So, my response was: I also thought it would be just another night but something changed. Let’s just say that in the song I’m kind of looking forward to seeing where it goes, even if he prefers not to stop there, and I love the game. Tainy is super generous, that way of inviting me was ideal for me, to work this way, writing and telling a story through a song. And well, the video is a genius. I’m happy with the song, and with the result. I hope that someday we will sing it live.” commented Julieta Venegas.
“Lo Siento BB:/” along with the official video, is available for streaming on all digital platforms today.
