Puerto Rico’s San Juan — A well-known voice recording that Bad Bunny’s ex-girlfriend offered the singer before he rose to fame is the basis of her lawsuit against the celebrity for at least $40 million.

Carli De La Cruz Hernández alleged in a lawsuit submitted this month in a Puerto Rico court that her voice and the phrase she coined are being exploited without her permission. Her breathy “Bad Bunny, baby” recording was utilized in two of the artist’s tracks.

According to the lawsuit, the word was used in the song “Pa Ti,” which has more than 355 million views on YouTube and more than 235 million Spotify plays, originally reported by online Puerto Rican news outlet Noticel. It was also used in the song “Dos Mil 16,” which has received over 60 million YouTube views and 280 million Spotify plays.

According to the lawsuit, De La Cruz’s “distinguished voice” was also exploited without permission for songs, recordings, promotions, international concerts, television, radio, and other musical and social media platforms.

Since then, thousands have left comments about the ‘Bad Bunny, baby’ on Carliz’s social media accounts and whenever she enters a public space. According to the lawsuit, this has led to De La Cruz’s ongoing feelings of worry, agony, intimidation, overwhelm, and anxiety.

The manager of Bad Bunny, Noah Kamil Assad Byrne, whose true name is Benito Martnez Ocasio, is also being sued.

An inquiry for a reaction from Assad and from Bad Bunny’s agents was not immediately answered.

Martnez and De La Cruz started dating in 2011. A year later, they started working at a nearby supermarket while attending classes at the University of Puerto Rico in the north coastal town of Arecibo. According to the lawsuit, Martnez was continuously writing songs and rhythms at that time and would consult with De La Cruz, who was also in charge of planning his parties and managing invoices and contracts, for advice.

2015 saw the invention of the phrase “Bad Bunny, baby,” and Martnez requested that De La Cruz record herself repeating it. According to the lawsuit, she emailed it to him after doing so in a restroom one day while staying with a friend because that place was the least noisy.

Martnez proposed to De La Cruz on January 1st, and they set a July 2016 wedding date. However, Martnez was signed by Rimas Entertainment in April 2016. De La Cruz broke her engagement with Martnez in May 2016 after being admitted to the University of Puerto Rico’s law school in the same year.

In 2017, they reconnected. However, they soon parted ways again.

Then, in May 2022, a Bad Bunny employee contacted De La Cruz and demanded to speak with her.

The representative allegedly told Martnez in that conversation, “I know you don’t like to talk about Voldemort, but I need to ask you something,” according to the lawsuit.

He made her a $2,000 offer to purchase her voice recording of her. After being asked to purchase it by someone at Rimas Entertainment, De La Cruz declined and said the track would be utilized in the upcoming album, “Un Verano Sin Ti,” according to the lawsuit.

However, an agreement was never made, and the music was released without De La Cruz’s approval, claiming a lawsuit.

SOURCE – (AP)

Taylor Swift kicked off her U.S. concert tour with a three-hour career retrospective. Swift opened the 27-date Eras Tour with a six-song set from her album “Lover” at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where the Super Bowl was played a month ago.

“I’m not sure how to address how this is making me feel right now,” Swift, who hasn’t toured since 2018, said early in the performance.

She closed the show with a seven-song set from her latest album “Midnights,” concluding with “Karma.”

In between, she played songs from most of her albums, except for “Tim McGraw,” from her self-titled debut in 2006. It took her 44 songs and over three hours to complete her 17-year career.

Having not toured in support of her previous three albums, this concert series is intended to compensate for lost time by performing many of those songs live for the first time. Swift described the tour as “a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!)” when she announced it in November.

Swift appeared to acknowledge the Ticketmaster controversy that tainted the tour’s buildup when she told the crowd over 70,000 that she understands it took “considerable effort” for them to be there.

Following another performance at the same venue on Saturday night, the tour will travel to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and then to AT&T Stadium near Dallas.

It comes to a close in August with two shows in the Los Angeles area.

Taylor Swift Breaks Top 10 Billboard Records

Bobby Caldwell, a soulful R&B singer and songwriter who had a major hit with “What You Won’t Do for Love” in 1978 and a voice and musical style adored by generations of his peers, died Wednesday, his wife announced.

According to Mary Caldwell, he died in her arms on Tuesday at their home in Great Meadows, New Jersey, after a long illness. He was 71.

“What You Won’t Do for Love” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 on what was then known as the Hot Selling Soul Singles chart. Caldwell’s song, which he also wrote, became a long-term standard and a career-defining hit.

Tupac Shakur sampled the song on his posthumously released song “Do For Love,” which artists such as Boyz II Men and Michael Bolton covered.

Hip-hop artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Common, Lil Nas X, and Chance the Rapper have sampled other Caldwell songs.

There are numerous stories, many of which were shared on social media after his death, of listeners being surprised to learn that Caldwell was white rather than black.

On his self-titled debut solo album, Booby Caldwell appeared only in silhouette, on which “What You Won’t Do for Love” appears.

“Bobby Caldwell was the final chapter in a generation where record executives wanted to hide faces on the album covers so maybe their artist could have a chance,” Questlove wrote on Instagram.

“Thank you for your voice and gift, #BobbyCaldwell,” Questlove wrote on Instagram.

Chance the Rapper posted a screenshot of a direct message exchange with Caldwell last year when he asked to use his music on Instagram.

“If you sample my song, I’ll be honored,” Bobby Caldwell wrote.

“You’re an inspiration to me and many others,” Chance said. In the post, he stated that he had never been thanked for sampling a song before and that he had “not felt broken like this at the passing of a stranger in so long.”

Bobby Caldwell was born in New York and raised in Miami, the son of singers who hosted a musical variety TV show called “Suppertime.” He began performing professionally as a multi-instrumentalist at 17 and started playing guitar in Little Richard’s band in the early 1970s. Bobby Caldwell played in various Los Angeles bar bands in the mid-1970s before landing a solo record deal.

Caldwell never had a hit like “What You Won’t Do for Love,” but he did release several respected albums, including 1980’s “Cat in The Hat” — on which he appeared prominently on the cover wearing a fedora — and 1982’s “Carry On,” on which he was his producer and played all the instruments.

His “Cat in the Hat” song “Open Your Eyes” was covered by John Legend and sampled by Common on his Grammy-nominated 2000 single “The Light.”

Caldwell shifted to recording and performing American standards in the 1990s, including songs made popular by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole that he grew up listening to.

Bobby Caldwell is survived by his wife of 19 years, Mary, and daughters Lauren, Tessa, and stepdaughter, Katie.