Producer Clevie Browne denies involvement in Drake’s song removal

Jamaican producer, Cleveland “Clevie” Browne of Steely & Clevie, stated that he had no role in the removal of Drake’s song Blue Green Red from streaming platforms.

“We never downplayed it, we never encouraged it, because that’s the music business, the song should generate revenue, and at the time it showed a lot of potential,” Browne said Dancehall Mag on the weekend.

Released by UMG Recordings on August 10 via Drake’s Blue Green Red it debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and amassed over 7 million streams on Spotify before being removed. The song was released on August 10 via UMG Recordings as part of Drake’s 100 concerts EP, used elements of Tiger’s hit from 1991
When
allegedly without proper authorization. According to Browne, although his publishers were contacted for permission, they were not provided with the song itself for review, and therefore he could not release the song without hearing it first.

He explained: “From a business standpoint, it makes sense to release this song, but after hearing all the arguments, the record company must have decided it would make more sense to remove it because they don’t want further allegations after the fact.”

Last week during a livestream, Drake’s producer Boi-1da hinted at it Blue Green Red may return to streaming platforms once the billing issue is resolved. Browne agreed, stating: “The situation needs to be straightened out.”

However, conflicting claims complicate the situation. Browne continued: “They are willing to re-release the song, but with the claim that Gussie (Clarke) did it and Tiger’s denial that Gussie is his publisher, the situation is a bit iffy.”

Producer Gussie Clarke, who claims to be Tiger’s publishing representative, accused Browne of altering agreed royalty splits for Whenwhich initially gave veterans 50% and Steely & Clevie 50%. Browne denies this, maintaining that the divisions were never corrected. “The split was one-third/one-third/one-third from day one. The song was recorded in 1990 and recorded in 1991. This split is in line with previous practices of a three-way split in light of Steely & Clevie’s contributions as composers and authors,” he said. Dancehall Mag.

Meanwhile, Tiger’s lawyer, Everton Dewar, revealed that he had been in contact with him Greensleeves lawyer who claims to have received legal authority from Gussie Clarke to deal with sample acceptance and publication When For Blue Green Red single. “I will be consulting with my clients, Tiger and his daughter Rhiality, with a view to taking the matter to trial,” Dewar said.

Dewar added that he has not yet received any written documentation from Gussie Clarke confirming that Clarke is authorized to act on Tiger’s behalf as publisher. “Tiger denied that he ever signed any documentation authorizing Clarke to act on his behalf as publisher,” Dewar said.