Messy Mya was a local star in New Orleans in the late 00’s, known for his hilarious YouTube videos, boisterous attitude and his bounce music (a popular style in N.O.) Sadly, he was murdered while leaving his baby shower in 2010, but his memory lives on – and he was even recognized by Beyoncé when she made her New Orleans-inspired track, “Formation,” in 2016.
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Messy Mya’s sister, Angel Barre, doesn’t see the “Formation” feature as an honor, however.
Barre just filed a $20 million lawsuit against Bey, her imprint Parkwood Entertainment and her parent company Sony Music, alleging that they used her brother’s “voice, performance and words from his copyrighted works to create the tone, mood, setting and location of the New Orleans-themed ‘Formation’ video and audio recordings” without authorization or permission. She is seeking royalties and writer, composer, producer and performer credit for Mya.
Though Messy Mya’s vocals don’t appear in the Lemonade film or the album, his works “Booking the Hoes of New Wildings” and “A 27 Piece Huh” are featured in the “Formation” music video, which you can see below.
Source: The Advocate