Cardi B slaps down plagiarism allegations over her new single 'Up' from 2 other rappers
- Rappers Mir Fontane and Mir Pesos accused Cardi B of plagiarism in her new single, "Up."
- Cardi B defended her single in a Twitter exchange with the New Jersey rappers on Friday.
- She has been accused of plagiarism and copyright infringement related to three separate songs.
Cardi B has once again been accused of plagiarism.
After the resounding success - and controversy - following her song "WAP," her latest single "Up" hit music stores on Friday to much fanfare. The phrases "Cardi B" and "Up" trended on Twitter, while the official music video reached 13 million views as of Saturday afternoon.
However, she's also stumbled into online controversy after two New Jersey rappers, Mir Pesos and Mir Fontane, accused her of ripping off their September 2020 collaboration, "Stuck."
After its release, both Mir Fontane and Mir Pesos shared a side-by-side video to Twitter that compared "Up" to "Stuck."
The phrase in question, "if it's up, then it's stuck," is repeated throughout both "Up" and "Stuck." Many social media followers noted the similarities between the beat and lyrics.
"@iamcardib we want my money," wrote Pesos, who tagged Mir Fontane in the tweet.
Cardi B addressed her fellow rappers directly.
"Naaa I'm the type of person that avoids problems & court days," wrote Cardi B.
"If i get inspired by a song I wouldn't mind giving a percentage or couple of thousand but I never [heard of] this man. I'm glad while I was recording this song in August I was playing with the hook on this live," she added.
Cardi B then shared footage of an Instagram Live video in which she previewed "Up" on August 7.
Read more: Cardi B wore a see-through dress that was actually a major optical illusion
But Mir Fontane hit back, claiming that he and Mir Pesos previewed their single on August 6 and "recorded it even earlier than that, respectfully."
He also shared a screenshot that appeared to show that "Stuck" premiered on August 6. YouTube currently showed the song's premiere on September 15.
The Twitter exchange came to a halt when Cardi B decided she was over the drama.
"F--- the drama. RUN THE NUMBERS UP!!!" she wrote.
"If it's up, then it's stuck" is a common slang phrase in the South
As noted by social media users and Genius, the phrase "if it's up, then it's stuck" is common in hip hop slang.
The phrase refers to a persistent problem or issue that won't go away until it's properly settled.
Genius reported the slang has roots in the American South with particular popularity among rappers cities like Atlanta, Georgia, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Travis Scott uttered the phrase in the popular JACKBOYS song "Out West."
Cardi B has previously been accused of plagiarism and copy infringement
Cardi B faced plagiarism accusations in July 2020 over her features on Offset's "Clout" and Blueface's "Thotiana (Remix)," NME reported.
Rapper Dela Wesst claimed that Cardi B was "stealing" her lyrics in both features. The two women shared a heated, curse-laden Twitter exchange that ended in Cardi B stepping back from social media for a few days, NME reported.
In 2019, Cardi B and Lil Nas X were named in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by two Atlanta producers.
The producers alleged that the song "Rodeo" by Lil Nas X and Cardi was "derivative" of a recording of theirs that eventually became the song "Broad Day."
The lawsuit said that producers "performed, published, and distributed widely... in and around the Atlanta hip-hop scene." It also said the structure and chord progression for similar, as well as noting Lil Nas didn't have permission to "interlope" or "sample" their work.