Jay Z Testifies In “Big Pimpin” Case

We’ve previously reported that Jay-Z and producer Timbaland have been battling an ongoing lawsuit from the nephew of of Baligh Hamdi, an Egyptian composer who created the 1957 hit “Khosara Khosara” which is sampled in Jay Z and Timbaland’s 1999 hit, “Big Pimpin.” Jay Z and Timbaland maintain that they have gone through the proper channels to obtain the right to use  “Khosara Khosara” while Hamdi’s nephew says Jay and Tim violated his moral rights, a concept observed in Egypt, because they did not ask to use the sample in a song that promotes a promiscuous lifestyle. 

Jay Z took the stand in his defense. The music mogul pointed out that he obtained rights to the song by pointing out the liner notes on the CD. “We have the rights as you can see on the bottom of the CD,” he told the court. To most questions, Jay Z gave one-word answers, mainly “yes”, “no”, or “correct.”  Every now and then he used humor to charm to the court room. 

Jay Z’s lawyer asked him about artists’ careers he helped foster,  including those of Rihanna, J. Cole and Kanye West. “Some people may have heard of him,” his attorney, Andrew Bart, said of Kanye.  One or two,” Jay Z responded. “He’s running for president.”

On a more serious note, when question about “Khosara Khosara” Jay says that at first he did not know there was a sample in the song.  “I didn’t think there was a sample in it. Timbaland presented me with a track. I didn’t even think about there being a sample.” When asked by Hamdi’s nephew’s attorney how he couldn’t have known, Jay replied,  “That’s not what I do. I make music.”  He also notes that it was to his understanding that the rights to “Khosara Khosara” had been properly negotiated after issues were raised following the release of “Big Pimpin’.” When Timbaland took the stand earlier this week, he mentioned that things weren’t handled properly during the initial release of the song, but soon after, he squared things away by paying EMI $100,000 for the rights of the song. Lawyers for Timbaland and Jay Z also say that evidence will show that Hamdi’s heirs have been repeatedly paid for the use of the song. 

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