So if you want the video reinstated, try pestering Jay-Z and on Twitter. If that permission isn't granted, then we ask the service in question to remove the song from their platform.' When a song is created based wholly on any of our writers works, those writers need to grant their permission. 'While we don't comment on individual cases, it's our duty as a publisher to represent the interests of our songwriters. Sadly it's nowhere near as entertaining as the original spoof, but does at least inform us that Newport does not have a Pizza Hut and does have a velodrome.Īny word from the songwriters on why they didn't approve the charity record, or why they wanted the song pulled completely? No.

Goldie Lookin Chain (have they been 'resting' from the music scene until now?) took the opportunity to spoof the spoofers with their take, You're Not From Newport. The video had generated more than 2.6m views on YouTube last time we checked, and Warren, Wainwright and the rest of the Newport band were guest stars at the reopening of Newport's transporter bridge late last month and guest starred at Newport's CityFest. And perhaps they didn't take too kindly to their song being mocked, as they may have seen it. The problem is that the charms of Newport's cultural highlights – including throwing up in the back of a taxi, Welsh rarebit and congestion on the A4042 – may have been lost on some of New York's best songwriters. The real disconnect here is not between EMI's lawyers and the public mood. Some rights reserved.Īs well as Alicia Keys, the songwriters listed as Shawn Carter (that's Jay-Z) Angela Hunte, Bert Keyes, Sylvia Robinson, J Sewell-Ulepic and Al Shuckburgh are all apparently based in the US. Some proceeds were to be donated to the mental health charity Newport Mind.īut the seven co-writers of the original song, which include Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, refused permission for the Newport single – we have been told – and that led to the video being removed from YouTube.ĮMI (and there's a distinction between the record label and EMI Music Publishing, which looks after the songwriters) has been bearing the brunt of protests on Twitter and elsewhere for pulling one of the year's hottest viral videos. We've identified the culprit behind the Newport State of Mind takedown – and it wasn't EMI Music Publishing.Īlex Warren and Terema Wainwright, who sang the parody of the Empire State of Mind duet by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, met Universal Records last month to explore releasing the track as a single.

Jay z empire state of mind you tube