African singer sues Michael and Rihanna

Manu Dibango, the 75-year-old singer from Cameroon, filed a lawsuit on February 3 against Michael Jackson and Rihanna, the female R&B singer, in a court in Paris. The African singer claims that the two of them stole parts of one of his songs. In his lawsuit, he is seeking €500,000 in damages. The court judge will decide on February 17 whether to reject or accept the case. Michael Jackson used parts of the African singer’s song titled Soul Makossa (released in 1972) in his own song Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, which is one of the very popular tracks on the Thriller album. Michael had reached a financial agreement with Dibango for using that piece in his song. But the problem began when Rihanna, in her 2007 song titled Don’t Stop The Music, obtained Michael’s approval to use the same piece (ma ma se Ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa). The African singer’s lawyers asked the court to prevent the music companies SonyBMG, EMI and Warner from earning revenue from these songs until the case is settled. Source: eMJey / AFP