New York, NY. (South Capitol Recordings) - According to the indie label "South Capitol Recordings", LeToya Luckett appears on a YouTube video of her recent performance at Southern University 25th Annual Springfest - on April 26, 2008 - in which she stopped to address her absence from the
Webbie music video for "
I Miss You" - or "
Missing You" -. She stated she wanted to appear, yet her absence was due to scheduling conflicts and other issues.
Rumors have surfaced that the "other issues" pertain to allegations that the concept of the single "Missing You" is exact with the concept of "Since U Been Away" by LaPret.
It is being perceived that LaPret's 2007 demo - submitted to Trill Entertainment - contained the record "Since U Been Away" featuring a sample sung by Dianna Ross. In 2008
Webbie released the single "
Missing You" which instead features LeToya Luckett singing Ross's parts as well as new lyrics written by Luckett.
LaPret may have pitched song concepts and other musical works that LeToya most likely will use or consider recording, as a result to maintain this affiliation she did not appear in the "Missing You" music video; and instead a girl with similar looks did. There are rumors that legal proceedings could follow in this matter but the indie label South Captiol Recordings will not take such actions.
The label says the LaPret record "Since U Been Away" will be released at another time and it does not support the alleged claims made by a New York DJ. The independent record label does not want to prolong this matter and wishes for all further discussions to cease, respectively.
This became a matter of public discussion when a New York night club DJ who played the LaPret record in mid-2007 announced - in March 2008 - that Webbie's song was a rip-off and the rapping on the single sucked when compared to the LaPret record "Since U Been Away". Initially a rep for LaPret stated, "'Since U Been Away' appeared on a 2007 demo submitted to several major and indie record labels. Understand no charges have been made that any 'song lyrics' or 'musical elements' were misused by either rapper at anytime. It's simply a matter of 'conceptual similarities' between these two records."
The Rapper-Songwriter LaPret (18) is a well-known yet emerging rapper. His most popular records are 2007's "Work It" and 2008's "Make U See". Currently his music can be found on iTunes and CDBaby or in rotation at selected night clubs across the United States. He is also a member of the rap group Profound Intent. The official website www.LaPretWorld.com and MySpace www.myspace.com/officiallylapret no longer mentions "Since U Been Away".
Visit www.letoyaonline.com/news.html for more info and to view the video of LeToya addressing the issue which is responsible for sparking more controversy.
