Lord Finesse Not Backing Down On Mac Miller Lawsuit

[NelsonG]

Mac Miller reached out to Lord Finesse in an attempt to squash the $10 million lawsuit that the rapper veteran is targeting him with, over a mixtape sample, but to no avail. "I just talked to Lord Finesse. He's still suing me," Mac tweeted on Wednesday night, after news of the lawsuit had already made the rounds.

As expected, a big chunk of Miller's two million-plus Twitter followers have been up in arms about Finesse's suit, but the 20-year-old urged them to be civil. "To my fans, don't be disrespectful. Finesse is a legend. If you have a problem with his actions, be intelligent about it and be respectful," he wrote on the social-networking site.

"Wow .. Mac. We spoke trying to resolve the situation. Next thing you back on Twitter.. wow ... " Finesse responded with a tweet of his own.

Finesse is looking for payback for Mac's "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza," a mixtape single on which Miller rhymed over the instrumental from the rapper/producer's 1995 single "Hip 2 da Game." The jacked track was included on Mac's 2010 breakout tape K.I.D.S. (Kickin' Incredibly Dope Sh--) and was never sold, a common practice for up-and-coming rappers. Still, Finesse is alleging copyright infringement, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, interference, deceptive trade practices and a host of other claims related to copyright law.

"This is a case about a teenage rapper — Mac Miller — copying the music from a song written, produced and performed by Lord Finesse, a hip hop legend, changing the title and then distributing it under his own name in order to launch his music career," the complaint received by Courthouse News Service states.

Lord Finesse broke out in 1990 when he and DJ Mike Smooth released their debut album, Funky Technician, but Finesse would receive the most notoriety as a member of the beloved Diggin' in the Crates crew, which also included Fat Joe, Diamond D and the late Big L. Finesse was the chief producer behind Big L's 1995 debut, Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous. He also crafted a track on the Notorious B.I.G.'s classic Ready to Die and Dr. Dre's 2001 album (most commonly referred to as The Chronic 2001).

Though he was obviously upset by the suit, on Tuesday, Miller expressed his love for Finesse, citing his work with Big L, one of Mac's chief musical influences. "Lord Finesse, thank you for what u did for hip hop," he wrote. "Thank you for bringing my favorite rapper into the game."

[url=http://rapfix.mtv.com/2012/07/12/lord-finesse-not-backing-down-mac-miller-lawsuit/]View the full article[/url]