Editorial note: The music video contains strong language that may be NSFW.
Video company Ridge Production recently released a video it shot for American rapper Sheck Wes, who is accused of failing to pay the company for its work. The video’s publication resulted in a cease and desist letter from Universal Music; though Ridge Productions owns the footage, it doesn’t own the music. That has resulted in a second video release, this one with spoofed audio over the video.
In an interview with Highsnobiety, the company claimed it was informed Wes didn’t like the music video they had shot. Soon after, both Sheck and Universal Music reportedly stopped responding to Ridge Production’s messages. After weeks allegedly without payment, the company decided to publish the video regardless.
According to the interview, the original video resulted in a cease and desist letter from the label, prompting Ridge Production to take the video down. However, company owner Pat Ridge decided to replace it with an edited version that features amusing sounds and lyrics applied to the same video.
When asked what he hoped the outcome of publishing the video would be, Ridge said:
Last night I got some real traction by being authentic, doing what I believe, not succumbing to the fear of Universal [and] these corporations. There was a lot of fear in what I did, it was kind of scary […] I have a lot of artists on my team, and we’re having fun, but we should be getting paid for our work.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)