Indian composer Bappi Lahiri has taken Dr Dre to court in LA claiming a Truth Hurts record produced on his label borrowed heavily from a 20-year-old Hindi song. The suit claims the hit single 'Addictive' was the product of "cultural imperialism" that did not credit Third World artists. Lahiri is suing Dre (real name Andre Ramelle), his label Aftermath Records, and parent companies Interscope Records, Universal Music and Vivendi Universal.
Dre's lawyer, Howard King, dismissed the lawsuit as Lahiri trying to cash in on the rapper's fame. "There's no reason for Dre to be named personally as a defendant in this lawsuit. He didn't write or perform on the record. It happens to have been released on a label he's part owner of. Somebody's just taking advantage of his name."
The track Lahiri claims was stolen was 'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' by Indian performer Lata Mangeshkar. "They literally superimposed their own drum track and lyrics over the beat," Lahiri's lawyer Anthony Kornarens said. "It's our opinion that the label simply took it for granted that Hindi music was something they didn't need to pay for, that it could be used simply at will."