"Boo'd Up" singer Ella Mai received an online backlash after Jacquees was reportedly forced to take down his remix of her song, "Trip," from YouTube and SoundCloud. The British star didn't immediately respond to the reported cease and desist letter that her team sent to the R&B crooner. Instead, she promoted her self-titled album, due October 12. Her hit single "Boo'd Up" went platinum three times and the video has been viewed more than 228 million times on YouTube.
"Sixteen days pre-order my debut album ELLA MAI now on http://ellamai.com," she wrote Tuesday. The tweet received dozens of comments from fans who claimed she wanted the "Trip" remix taken down because was upset that Jacquees's version was more popular.
Jacquees's name quickly became a top-trending Twitter topic Tuesday, garnering more than 115,000 mentions. Even though fans were upset with Mai, Jacquees said she didn't hold anything against her. When T-Pain claimed Jacquees tried to profit off his "Trip" remix he supported Mai.
"No, I didn't lol hell you [talking] bout my brother. I put it on SoundCloud and YouTube you know my game ain't cap," Jacquees tweeted to T-Pain Tuesday. "I love Ella."
With all the attention he was getting, Jacquees took the opportunity to promote his video for "London," which he recorded in the titular city, off his album 4275.
During an interview with Billboard in June, Jacquees said he was inspired by '90s music. "When you listen to today's music, it all comes from that era of music, so that's why I listen to a lot of old music," he said at the time. "There's nothing wrong with listening to old music and twisting it into your own."
Music is something Jacquees always knew he wanted to do. "I didn't have a plan B," he told Billboard, revealing he first knew he could sing at 9 years old. "I first got into the studio when I was 12 and when I first started to hear myself on the records being played back, I was like, 'Man, I sound good!' I would just go to the studio and just sing Michael Jackson songs just to hear my voice because it's one thing to sound good singing out loud, but if you sound good being recorded, that's another thing."
Aside from listening to the Jackson 5, Jacquees grew up on a wide range of music, from Earth, Wind & Fire to Ron Isley, from R. Kelly to gospel singer Kirk Franklin.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Maria Vultaggio is a Brooklynite originally hailing from Long Island. She studied English at Stony Brook University and interned at the ... Read more
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