The producer who accused Columbian singer, songwriter and reggaeton star Karol G of stealing his beat when making her 2022 hit ‘Gatúbela’ has withdrawn his lawsuit and even issued an apology.
Alfr3d Beats, real name Dick Alfredo Caballero Rodriguez, admits that files provided by Karol G and her producer, DJ Maff, prove that ‘Gatúbela’ was in fact recorded before he posted his track ‘Punto G’ onto YouTube in 2022. And therefore, “nos equivocamos”.
In his lawsuit filed last year, Rodriguez said that “by every method of analysis ‘Gatúbela’ is a forgery”, created using his beat without permission. But in a new statement, issued in both English and Spanish, he says that “during discovery, defendants provided evidence, including session files” that establish that DJ Maff “independently created the beat” for ‘Gatúbela’ “months” before he posted ‘Punto G’ on 12 Jul 2022.
Not only that, but the files provided by DJ Maff also show that Karol G recorded the final version of ‘Gatúbela’ two weeks before ‘Punto G’ was released. With all that in mind, Rodriguez has dismissed his lawsuit and “wishes to sincerely apologise to Karol G and DJ Maff” for the “mistaken claims and public allegations”.
It’s not often that beat-theft lawsuits like this end with a polite apology, but it can happen. Rodriguez goes even further in his statement. “We were wrong”, he says - or “nos equivocamos” if you prefer - adding, “we wish the best for Karol G, DJ Maff, and the other defendants”.
In his original lawsuit, Rodriguez conceded that “only a little over six weeks elapsed” between him posting his beat on YouTube and DJ Maff previewing ‘Gatúbela’ in a post on Instagram. But he reckoned that was enough time for DJ Maff to produce the Karol G track using his beat.
When the two producers messaged each other prior to the lawsuit being filed, DJ Maff did tell Rodriguez that “music is the same forever, the same circles that combine in different variations” and “coincidences can happen”, before adding “I’ll make it clear to you that I made my beat more than nine months ago”.
But Rodriguez thought that was just DJ Maff being super defensive, him having realised his beat-theft had been spotted. But, alas, no. DJ Maff had indeed made his beat for ‘Gatúbela’ nine months earlier and had the files to prove it.
Rodriguez was joined by fellow producer Jack Hernandez in his lawsuit against Karol G, which also targeted her label Universal Music. The bilingual apology will also be published by Rodriguez on his YouTube and social media accounts.
