Beyonce is being sued for $20 million by the sister of slain New Orleans bounce artist, Messy Mya, for the use of his vocals in Lemonade. Angel Barre, the sister of New Orleans bounce artist Messy Mya, claims that Beyoncé used her brother’s “voice, performance and words from his copyrighted works to create the tone, mood, setting and location of the New Orleans-themed ‘Formation’ video and audio recordings” without authorization or permission. Messy Mya, born Anthony Barre, was killed in 2010 after leaving the baby shower of his pregnant girlfriend. During the Super Bowl last year, in a surprise release of the “Formation” visual, Lemonade‘s first single used Messy Mya’s “Booking the Hoes of New Wildings” and “A 27 Piece Huh.” Barre is suing for royalties and seeking writer, composer, producer and performer credit to her brother. Beyoncé’s label Sony Music and Parkwood Entertainment are named in the lawsuit as well. Barre alleged that both the “Formation” video and the Lemonade video album committed copyright infringement. However, the samples using Messy Mya’s vocals can’t be heard on the hour film or actual album.
