Jay-Z has been hitting back at Toni Braxton who claimed he stole her idea to redo the Tupac song ‘Me and My Girlfriend’. Jay-Z’s new track ’03 Bonnie & Clyde’ makes use of a similar chorus and beat to the original, while Braxton has recorded a track called ‘Me and My Boyfriend’ which samples the Tupac song. Braxton claims she recorded hers first and that Jay-Z stole the idea after her track had been delivered to Def Jam records. But Kanye West says he suggested his friend Jay-Z should sample the Tupac track before he knew of Braxton’s project. "I had no idea about Toni Braxton's song," West told reporters, "She can't act like ain't nobody ever heard 'Me and My Girlfriend' before. People hear the song all the time. I can understand her complaint if it was an original song.”
Roc-A-Fella label boss Damon Dash also defended Jay-Z. "Jay is a talented dude. I don't think he would steal anything intentionally," he said. "It's an ill coincidence, and things happen for a reason. We'll see what happens behind it. I read it in the paper, and Jay and I were talking about it this morning and it was a little funny. I know he didn't intentionally make the same record she made. I don't think he even heard it. My reaction is, 'Sorry, it wasn't intentional'."