Meet Bernard Smalls, better known as Beanz. He is the Men's Lifestyle & Pop Culture writer for Cassius Life plus handles tech and video games for Hip-Hop Wired. Beanz has been with the company since 2019 and has been working as a writer for eight years. His favorite hobbies include video games, of course, and watching a lot of movies, mainly sci-fi. He also moonlights as a photographer in his spare time. @photosbybeanz
On the 2nd anniversary of The Carter’s joint album Everything Is Love, the power couple was slapped with a lawsuit.
The internet celebrated the release of the surprise collaborative effort from JAY-Z and Beyoncé on the album’s 2nd anniversary yesterday, while at the same time, The Carters were being sued. TMZ exclusively reports that Jamaican artist Dr. L’Antoinette Stines who opens up the track “BLACK EFFECT,” claims she wasn’t properly paid or credited for being featured on the song.
Stines claims that she is well-known for her “her artistry and wisdom” in Jamaica, and that’s why Hov and Beysus reached out to her back in March 2018 to provide dancers in for a video the couple planned on dropping to promote their upcoming tour. According to the lawsuit which was filed on Tuesday (Jun.17), Stines says that she did get the dancers and that Jay and Bey wanted her to record her views and that the interview would be used in the video for “promotional use only.”
Per TMZ:
In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says she was shocked when she heard “Black Effect” — from The Carters’ “Everything Is Love” album — because the whole first minute of the track is just her voice.Hearing herself on the song — uncredited, mind you — left Dr. Stines feeling “artistically raped” … according to her lawsuit.The doc claims a contract for her services was only thrust in front of her on the day of the shoot, and she alleges the Carters’ reps told her not to worry … after all, her interview would only be used for promotion.So, she signed, but she’s pissed she never got a chance to have it reviewed by her own lawyer — and worst of all, claims she hasn’t been paid a dime for her vocal work.Stines is using JAY-Z and Beyoncé for copyright infringement and violation of her right to publicity. She is also seeking damages, wants a writing credit, and is looking to collect all of her coins for said writing credit.Hova and Bey have not issued a statement on the matter. We hope they do right by Ms. Stines.
