Singer CeCe Peniston recently addressed reports that she accused Lizzo of plagiarism. In a new video interview, she discussed the similarities between her ad libs on her song “Finally” and the ones included in “Juice.”
“What I said was I said, ‘Hey, if you’re gonna use it just say where you got it from,’ ” she explained in the clip. “My main thing to her was like, ‘who else in 30 years has ever done my ad lib?’ “
Peniston said that from her experience, it was a simple process to collaborate with another artist when using their sample, with the implication that she was not contacted at all in the making of “Juice.”
“If you do camaraderie with the artist and just say, “Hey, I just love this song,” y’all could maybe do something together,” she said. “You just never know what it could be, and I think that’s where people go wrong.”
Peniston mentioned that she had worked with other artists like Chris Brown and Joyner Lucas, who sampled her music, saying that she appreciated the fact that she was being remembered, noting that it was the similarity in the “flow” of the songs that initially bothered her.
When asked if she was compensated for the song, the singer remarked, “I got a piece of a piece,” before adding, “which means that whatever was due to me got handled,” she added. “If anybody looked on my Instagram recently they see maybe a little piece of the blessings that I got, but I would just say collectively that the publishing company was willing to work with me. Let’s just say that I’m thankful and I’m blessed in 2021.”
Peniston said that she and Lizzo had not discussed the sample, but that it was “up to her. Look I’m not opposed and … one thing I’m not is a hater. I’m not a hater. I always want for the next person what I want for myself.”
She continued, “I’m a giver, I just had to put a barrier on the giver because I know how folks get, but other than that, man it’s all good.”
Meanwhile, Lizzo has confirmed that she has already started preparations for her highly anticipated upcoming album.
In a Vogue interview from October of last year, she revealed that she had moved into a home with a recording studio. The performer said she had originally thought “I needed at least two-and-a-half white boys to make a song. One to engineer and one to produce.”
However, now the quarantine has allowed to Lizzo to work independently, as “now I can sit in my room and be my own engineer and producer.”
Atlantic Records, Lizzo’s label, has verified that the singer is indeed presently recording for the company.
She told Vogue very little about the actual content of the album, but assured that the result would be worth the wait. “Oh, girl, I don’t know. I gotta finish the songs. It’s gonna be good, though. I’ll tell you that. It’s gonna be motherf—— good.”
