Jamaican artist Cutty Ranks has spoken out against what he describes as a longstanding practice by some Reggaetón artists of translating Dancehall songs into Spanish and passing them off as their own.
He said this trend, which saw his hit song ‘Stopper’ stolen by one of these Latin American artists, led him to learn Spanish so he could personally translate his work, tap into the Spanish-speaking market, and protect his intellectual property across the linguistic divide.
“Caw even di Stoppa, him convert di Stoppa inna Spanish and do a record out of it and I found out about it. And was just saying if yuh caan beat dem, join dem. Suh eventually mi just haffi guh inna dem market and penetrate it. Find a girl in deh – shi speak Spanish an English, an mi learn Spanish through she,” Cutty told Music Phil during an interview on Yard Style Live.
Cutty Ranks also highlighted at length the impediments he encountered with the hit song ‘Dame Tu Cosita’, the music video for which has surpassed 4.7 billion views on YouTube.
According to the 59-year-old, the song was originally written by him in Patois and titled ‘Gimme Little Thing’.
He then asked Panamanian producer Rodney Clark, better known as El Chombo, to, as a native Spanish speaker, translate the lyrics into Spanish for him (Cutty) to record a Spanish version to reach a broader audience.
The ‘Press Di Trigger’ artist explained further that the decision to engage El Chombo in translating the lyrics was based on the thought that, as a native Spanish speaker, the producer could accurately translate the song’s meaning.
“I asked him to, as the producer, to convert my lyrics weh me write into Spanish. I write it in English which is gimme litle thing: ‘gimme litle thing and hail to di king, gyal’… That’s how it was desiged… because I am so interested in Spanish, the producer that is Rodney Clark aka El Chombo, I asked him fi translate Gimme Little Thing into Spanish and that is how Dame Tu Cosita come about,” Cutty emphasized.
The former Penthouse artist recounted how the original Spanish version of ‘Dame Tu Cosita’ came to be, pointing out that the iconic “ah, ah, aie” in the chorus was a creative solution when the original English phrase “hail to the king” did not work rhythmically in Spanish.
“An a suh now when him come up wid di Dame Tu Cosita, that was the translation; ‘Gimme little ting’. But the hail to di King – you know the Spanish language is very various and funny. If yuh nuh know weh yuh a do it will mess yuh up. So di ‘Hail to di King’ part couldn’t work in terms of the rhyme or whatever. So a suh di “aie” come een. ‘Dame tu cosita ah, ah aie’,” he explained further.
However, the ‘Limb by Limb’ artist says El Chombo has consistently misled the public, falsely claiming to have written the song and taking full credit for its success, despite his (Cutty Ranks) unmistakable Jamaican voice on the track.
“But him a guh around a tell people seh a him write it. But is misinformation. I asked him to, as the producer, to convert my lyrics weh me write into Spanish. Even if he convert into Spanish, is still mine,” he said.
Cutty Ranks further alleged that El Chombo added himself to the remix of the song years later, despite not being an artist. He says El Chombo not only failed to pay him royalties but also sampled other tracks without permission, including ‘Six Million Ways’ and ‘Kill Dem Out’.
“Suh him can in a lot a trouble fi dat too,” he remarked.
The original version of ‘Dame Tu Cosita’ did well in the Spanish market, but it did not feature El Chombo, Cutty said, adding that it was after the massive views on the YouTube video with the animated alien character, that El Chombo put himself on the remix with Pitbull and Karol G.
“And then him now. guh put himself on the remix… he’s not a artiste but him just guh put himself on it and use my name in orda fi build fi him self. And it work. It work. But at the same time you dont waan pay homage,” he declared.
“Him run away don’t give mi a dalla,” Cutty Ranks said, expressing his frustration over not receiving proper credit or payment back then.
Cutty Ranks eventually took legal action, forcing El Chombo to acknowledge his contributions to the song. However, he noted that he has yet to receive full payment from Ultra Music, whose accompanying video for the remix has garnered 122 million views on YouTube.
“A mi haffi force him to. Get a proper lawyer and move to him. A suh come mi get mi rights offa him. An all now dem still nuh pay mi in terms a Ultra Music – don’t pay up all now,” he said.
Interestingly, El Chombo and Ultra Music are currently named as defendants in Steely & Clevie’s massive copyright lawsuit. ‘Dame Tu Cosita’ and its remix with Pitbull and Karol G are identified as having allegedly infringed on the producers’ ‘Fish Market’ riddim.
In May this year, a federal judge ruled that the lawsuit could proceed after denying motions to dismiss brought by several of the over 160 defendants in the case.