"He should have just put my name down on the publishing" - Tulisa discusses legal battle with will.i.am over her stolen single 'Scream & Shout'

English musician Tula Paulinea Contostavlos, a.k.a. Tulisa, recently opened up about her legal battle with will.i.am regarding her stolen single Scream & Shout. During her appearance on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast on Monday, October 21, 2024, Cotton questioned the singer about the lawsuit that ended in her victory. Contostavlos replied:

"He should have just put my name down on the publishing to make sure I was going to get paid either way, rather than going the long-winded way around it. Like, of course I'm going to sue you, bro!"

Tulisa was referring to the song she wrote for her debut album, The Female Boss, originally titled I Don't Give a F*ck. The singer planned to release the song as a follow-up to her hit, Young (2012).

However, The Black Eyed Peas frontman released the track (titled Scream & Shout with Britney Spears as the featured artist) without her permission.

This prompted Contostavlos to pursue legal action. It led to a five-year-long case, ending in the English singer's favor.

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"It's my song, and I am not giving it to anyone" - Tulisa about initially refusing to give the song to will.i.am

Talking on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast, Tulisa explained that will.i.am initially approached her to give him the track, I Don't Give a F*ck. Per the singer, he tried to do "everything legitimately," telling her that he would collaborate with Britney Spears on the song and release it.

He promised her that it would be "amazing" for Contostavlos as a "writer." He claimed Spears could make the song a global hit and it would earn her a lot of "money."

She declined his request as she wanted to use it as a follow-up to her single Young (2012) from her debut album The Female Boss.

"It's my single. I don't care about the big picture. It's my song, and I am not giving it to anyone," Contostavlos asserted.

Despite Tulisa's refusal, will.i.am dropped the song as Scream & Shout (featuring Spears) in November 2012 as part of his fourth studio album, #willpower. At the time, the songwriting credits were attributed to will.i.am, Jef Martens, and Jean Baptiste.

The dance-pop track was a commercial success, topping charts across several countries. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart. It also topped the UK Singles Chart.

Explaining how she found out about Scream & Shout, Tulisa revealed:

"I was just casually sitting at home and there it was on the telly!"

She continued:

"Britney's just singing, I'm like is that my voice on the record that she's singing over? You know when you hear this, ‘in the club all eyes on us, all eyes on us’, you can, you can hear it. My vocals are on the record, so she's singing on top of me. That's why she's got the British accent."

Tulisa eventually pursued legal action, suing will.i.am in 2012. She claimed she was not credited as the writer despite her vocals being heard on the song.

In December 2012, will.i.am told MTV that indeed the English singer wrote the song before him and even recorded it, but the producers (Lazy Jay) didn't want her to have it, so he rewrote it with Spears in mind.

The case dragged on for five years before ending in Tulisa's favor. She was awarded 10% of the worldwide publishing rights and income made from the track. She told Fearne Cotton:

"Actually, now I don't complain because royalties are good."

The English singer revealed that they have since moved on. She also noted that Britney Spears had no involvement in the situation (or even knew who Tusila was before the lawsuit).

Neither will.i.am nor Spears have publicly reacted to the development.