Manu Dibango vs. Michael Jackson & Rihanna

February 13th, 2009

So the name Manu Dibango may not mean anything to you, but about 10 of his syllables may ring a bell: he sued Michael Jackson back in the day over MJ’s hit Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’ because Dibango claimed that “Ma Ma Se, Ma Ma Sa, Ma Ma Coo Sa,” was ripped off from his 1972 hit Soul Makossa (considered by many as the first recorded disco song), but nothing was resolved and the whole thing just kinda went away, until very recently.

MJ licensed that exact sample to Rhianna for her hit Don’t Stop The Music, so now Dibango is back with a brand new lawsuit and is suing both of them for about two million bucks AND wants a hold put on any income from the sale or publishing of either song.

Michael Jackson vs. Rhianna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJN3iF0XSNk

Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62HXA6Sa7OU

Posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 4:40 pm by Matt Wells and is filed under Headlines & Current Events.