- Music
- 05 Apr 18
Former N-Dubz singer and one-time X Factor judge Tulisa has won a five-year legal battle against Britney Spears and Will.i.am after being left out of the writing credits for their hit track Scream & Shout.
Tula Contostavlos, known professionally as Tulisa, claimed that she had co-written the track, released in November 2012, which was Britney Spear’s first UK number one in eight years. All profits from the track had been frozen since Tulisa sued the pair in 2012.
Tulisa’s claim involved the fact that she had written the opening line “when you hear this in the club, you’d better turn this shit up”, which Spears performed in a British accent in the final version. Additionally, Contostavlos argued that the song featured vocals which were a combination of her own, mixed with Spears’.
The legal battle was resolved as Contostavlos was awarded 10% of publishing rights and income generated from the song.
Former Black Eyed Peas member and producer Will.i.am argued that Tulisa had previously recorded to the beat used on Scream And Shout, telling MTV: "Tulisa wrote to that song before I did - this is the truth.
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"But the producers of the beat, two brothers from Belgium called Lazy Jay, didn’t want her to have it, so I wrote to it and Britney is the only person I ever had in mind."