RHOBH's Erika Jayne slammed by hip hop duo L'Trimm for 'ripping off' their hit song & 'never paying a penny for it'
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne is being slammed by singers of 80's hip-hop duo L'Trimm for allegedly “ripping off" their hit song and “never paying them a penny."
In an exclusive interview, L'Trimm's Tigra and Bunny D told The Sun that they were shocked to hear the similarities between the dance music performer and troubled Bravo star’s 2018 song Cars and their 1988 hit Cars That Go Boom.
Housewives gossip account Bravo and Cocktails recently noticed that the chorus of Erika's tune- "I like the cars, the cars that go boom" – is nearly identical to that of L'Trimm's song- "We like the cars, the cars that go boom."
Tigra told The Sun: "It's the exact same hook!
"And Erika never reached out either of us, and we haven’t seen a penny for it, of course. She never even bothered to shout out L’Trimm or tag us or anything."
"The least Erika could do is say, 'Okay, I was inspired by it.’ But to add insult to injury you jack it and pretend that you made it up, like we never existed.
“The craziest thing I really can't wrap my head around is that it's not an obscure song, it's such a well-known song that it's kind of a part of the fabric of hip hop.”
Cars That Go Boom has landed on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs Of All Time, and VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs lists.
Tigra continued: “How privileged can you possibly be that you don't think that people will recognize that you didn't make that up? Or, that we'd never find out?
"There's kind of a reckoning, in this time in history with creators of color, Erika should have said 'Hey, this is their music.'
“I'd love to say I'm flattered, since imitation is the best form of flattery, but she never gave me the chance to be flattered, because she never bothered to acknowledge us.”
Tigra, who is still a recording artist, first found out about Erika’s song last year when fans started tagging her on Twitter and Instagram, telling her L’Trimm should demand recognition for heavily influencing the song.
'BLATANTLY ROBBED'
Tigra's former bandmate Bunny exclusively told The Sun she was “livid” when she heard Erika’s song.
“It was blatantly robbed, and to not reference L’Trimm was shady.”
Bunny, who is no longer in the music business, said Erika’s alleged "rip off" cut deeper since she was a fan of the Real Housewives star.
“I was actually an Erika fan, and that's why I'm kind of brokenhearted.
"I was rooting for her, I saw when she was going through the divorce, and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, my heart is breaking for her.'
"I saw she was getting sued. I was like, 'God bless her heart,’ you know, and then I find this out.
“It’s heartbreaking that people just don't think about other people. And women like Erika don't think about other women, more importantly, because we're the underdogs.
"I think it's like a double hitter. Women aren't respected in the music business as it is, and we are minorities.
"And people are going to think that is really her song."
A NEW LEGAL FIGHT?
Tigra said she and Bunny wrote Cars That Go Boom when they were just 15 and 16 years old- and they no longer own the masters.
She claimed: “I'm not even sure that we can pursue legal action. It's just more of like, it’s straight swagger-jacking.
“I have reached out to see if anyone would want to pick it up pro bono, but so far we’ve been told since we don't have the original contracts, it's basically he says/she says.
Even if they did pursue action, Tigra claimed: “Of course the people with the most money in the most power are going to always be victors unfortunately.
"So if I was married to a very rich husband, who was also very well-known lawyer…”
'PUTTING A STOP TO IT'
Tigra explained: “She's got all this press on her for stealing and the documentary and all of it is coming together.”
“Seeing what these survivors are going through, you know, somebody’s got to stop these people.
"I'm happy to be able to contribute to putting a stop to it.”
Erika may be facing major fan backlash and legal consequences, but Tigra said the song scandal doesn’t really affect her.
“I sleep well at night. I feel really good about the fact that I have never stopped making music and my new music is doing great.”
“I have new stuff coming out and I have a legacy with people that respect our music and what we did back then.”
She has a new single under Tigra & Spncr titled FIREBENDER featuring Dante Basco dropping on August 24.
MOUNTING LEGAL TROUBLE
Since Erika filed for divorce from her ex, disgraced attorney Tom Girardi, last year, the exes have been hit with a number of lawsuits.
They are being sued for allegedly embezzling millions from the families of plane crash victims.
A report filed by an independent trustee investigating the firm's assets claimed Tom's company is in major debt, and still owes $26million to "anywhere from dozens to hundreds of clients."
A portion of these unpaid settlement funds – about $2million – are allegedly meant for the clients involved in the Lion Air Flight 610 crash case.
Erika was also accused of "hiding her bank statements," as a trustee's special litigation counsel previously confirmed that Tom's law firm transferred an eye-opening $20million to her many businesses.
Following her high profile split, Erika moved out of their $7 million mansion in Pasadena and into a new rental property.
The performer, who is best known for song XXPEN$IVE,has not released new music since 2019.
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