Beastie Boys Named In Awkwardly Timed Lawsuit Filed By Tuf America Label

Robbie Daw | May 8, 2012 10:31 am

In what has to be one of the worst-timed legal actions ever (not that there’s ever a good time to get sued, mind you), hip hop/R&B record label Tuf America filed a lawsuit against Beastie Boys last Thursday — one day before band member Adam Yauch lost his life to cancer —  in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The suit claims that two songs by the label’s artist Trouble Funk were illegally sampled on four Beastie songs from 1986 album Licensed To Ill and 1989’s Paul’s Boutique.

The site AllHipHop.com has obtained copies of the legal documents which show that the Trouble Funk songs in question are “Drop The Bomb” and “Say What”.  The former is said to have been used in Beastie Boys’ Licensed To Ill tracks “Hold It Now Hit It” and “The New Style”, as well as on “Car Thief” on Paul’s Boutique, while elements of the latter allegedly appear in Paul’s Boutique‘s “Shadrach” .

AllHipHop.com notes the following:

Tuf America said they did a thorough sound analysis of the tracks in question and concluded that the Beastie Boys illegally incorporated elements of the songs without permission.

To complicate the matter, Tuf America claims The Beasties and Capitol Records continue to profit off the album, by way of anniversary and commemorative releases of Licensed To Ill and Paul’s Boutique, which was released in 1989.

Below are Trouble Funk’s 1982 tune “Drop The Bomb” and Beastie Boys’ “The New Style”. Can you hear the sample?

Trouble Funk — “Drop The Bomb”

Beastie Boys — “The New Style”