Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBug708
I know LL Cool J is probably still pissed off at him for making Amish Paradise MUCH more popular than Gangsters Paradise ever was.
|
Here's something from the Wikipedia entry on Weird Al:
Negative
One of Yankovic's most controversial parodies was 1996's "
Amish Paradise", based on "
Gangsta's Paradise" by hip-hop artist
Coolio. Reportedly, Coolio's label gave Yankovic the impression that Coolio had granted permission to record the parody, but Coolio maintains that he never did. Complicating the issue further, "Gangsta's Paradise" already samples heavily from a
Stevie Wonder song, "Pastime Paradise." While Coolio claimed he was upset, legal action never materialised, and Coolio accepted
royalty payments for the song. After this controversy, Yankovic has always made sure to speak
directly with the artist of every song he parodied. At the
XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006
Consumer Electronics Show Yankovic and Coolio made peace. On his Website, Yankovic wrote of this event, "I don’t remember what we said to each other exactly, but it was all very friendly… I doubt I’ll be invited to Coolio’s next birthday party, but at least I can stop wearing that bulletproof vest to the mall."
[27]
In 2003, Yankovic was denied permission to make a video for "Couch Potato", his parody of
Eminem's "
Lose Yourself":
- "Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my 'Lose Yourself' parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career."[28]
For the
Poodle Hat Al TV special, Yankovic raised the question of artistic expression in a false interview with Eminem. As always, Yankovic edited the footage of a previous Eminem interview and inserted himself asking questions such that it made Eminem sound like a hypocrite on the matter of an artist's right to
free speech.
[29]