Producer Rob Fusari, who is also the brain child behind Lady Gaga's success, has gone on record claiming that Destiny's Child 2001 smash hit "Bootylicious"- which went on to become a word in the American dictionary - was in fact his creation and not that of Beyonce.
Obviously, we have been here before when it comes to the claiming of songs that was written by Bey, "Irreplaceable" anyone?
Rob was also behind the lyrics for Destiny's Child's debut single "No, No, No."
Billboard.com sat down with Rob to discuss all things Lady Gaga and Beyonce and here is what he had to say about "Bootylicious" and him not getting full recognition for it.
Did "Bootylicious" come together in a similar fashion?
I came up with the idea to build a track using the guitar riff from Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen." I really wanted to play the riff from "Eye of the Tiger," but I was flipping through my CDs in the studio and I couldn't find it. But I saw the Stevie Nicks CD and I remembered that the riff was similar.
I figured I'd put the guitar loop on there temporarily, and later go into the studio with a guitar and replay it, because I'd learned, after sampling Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" for Will Smith's "Wild Wild West," that I didn't want to lose 50% of the publishing. I vividly remember telling Mathew Knowles, "Mathew, you got to book me into your studio and let me replay that riff." It was Guitar 101! One note!
But Mathew didn't want to do it?
He didn't want to do it. So 50% got cut for one note. That whole experience was bittersweet for me.
I remember watching Barbara Walters interview Beyoncé about "Bootylicious," and she told Barbara about how she came up with the idea for the track. And I was just like, "What?" I called Mathew-which was a big mistake; I got emotional, and I apologized after-but I called Mathew and said, "Mathew, like, why?"
And he explained to me, in a nice way, he said, "People don't want to hear about Rob Fusari, producer from Livingston, N.J. No offense, but that's not what sells records. What sells records is people believing that the artist is everything." And I'm like, "Yeah, I know, Mathew. I understand the game. But come on, I'm trying too. I'm a squirrel trying to get a nut, too."
Well, that was nice of Mathew to give the shady pep talk to help Rob feel like he wasn't getting industry raped; Rob is a stronger person than I am.
There is no doubt that if Rob took full credit for the song his career would have taken off much sooner thanks to the success of that one song; shoulda, coulda, woulda I guess.
If you think about it, if Ne-Yo never opened his mouth to say that he wrote "Irreplaceable" who knows where his career would have been. Granted he is a great singer, people knowing that he penned a song from a females point of view really earned Ne-Yo respect for being a versatile artists and songwriter.
It's interesting that Mr. Knowles knows the rules of being an accomplished artist in the business but hardly actually follows it, he just does a great job fabricating the truth and putting up an excellent illusion that we just eat up like Sunday apple pie.
A point that was presented to me by a wise person not too long ago about Beyonce as a songwriter really set off a light bulb in my head and made a lot of sense; if Beyonce is this songwriter that everyone claims her to be, why hasn't she written any songs for other artists like most singer/songwriters do?
Food for thought, eh?
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