Signifying Rapper
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| “Signifying Rapper” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by Schoolly D | ||
| Album | Smoke Some Kill | |
| Released | 1988 | |
| Recorded | 1988 | |
| Genre | Hip hop, Gangsta rap | |
| Label | Jive Records | |
Signifying Rapper is a 1988 gangsta rap single by Schoolly D from his album Smoke Some Kill. It was the target of several lawsuits following its use in the 1992 film Bad Lieutenant.[citation needed]
The song is an homage to "Signifying Monkey" by Rudy Ray Moore, part of the signifying tradition in African folklore.[citation needed] It was published by Zomba Music on the Zomba Recordings label, a division of BMG's Jive Records. The song uses a sample from the Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir".[citation needed]
[edit] Litigation
The song was used in Bad Lieutenant during several scenes. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant sued via their publisher Flames of Albion Music, because the sample of "Kashmir" had not been cleared by Schoolly D's record company.[citation needed]
The song was ordered removed from the soudtrack and from broadcasts. In 1994, Live Home Video and distributor Aries Film Releasing were ordered to destroy any unsold copies of Bad Lieutenant as part of a copyright infringement ruling.[1] Director Abel Ferrara was angered by the incident, which he felt "ruined the movie". Referring to Page in venomous[2] tones, he commented that:
"Signifying Rapper" was out for five years, and there wasn't a problem. Then the film had already been out for two years and they start bitching about it. [...] It cost Schoolly like $50,000. It was a nightmare. And meanwhile, "Signifying Rapper" is 50 million times better than "Kashmir" ever thought of being. [...] Why sue? You should be happy that somebody is paying homage to your work. [3]
