Producer Clevie Browne Denies Involvement In Drake Song Removal

Jamaican producer, Cleveland “Clevie” Browne of Steely & Clevie, has stated he played no role in the removal of Drake’s song Blue Green Red from streaming platforms.

“We never took it to down, we never instigated for that to happen, because this is the music business, the song should be up generating income, and at the time, the song was showing a lot of potential,” Browne told DancehallMag over the weekend.

Released via UMG Recordings on August 10, Drake’s Blue Green Red debuted at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and garnered over 7 million Spotify streams before its removal. The track, released via UMG Recordings on August 10 as part of Drake’s 100 Gigs EP, had used elements from Tiger’s 1991 hit When , allegedly without proper clearance. According to Browne, while his publishers were contacted about clearance, they weren’t provided with the actual song to review, and therefore, he could not clear the song without hearing it first.

He explained: “It makes good business sense to have the song out, but having heard all the disputes, the record label must have felt it was wiser to take it down because they didn’t want any more charges after the fact.”

During a live stream last week, Drake’s producer Boi-1da hinted that Blue Green Red could return to streaming platforms once the clearance issue is resolved. Browne agreed, stating, “Things need to be straightened out.”

However, conflicting claims complicate the situation. Browne continued, “They are willing to re-release the song but with the claim that Gussie (Clarke) has and the denial by Tiger that Gussie is his publisher, things are a bit uncertain.”

Gussie Clarke

Producer Gussie Clarke, who asserts that he’s Tiger’s publishing representative, has accused Browne of altering established royalty splits for When, which had initially given the veteran artist 50% and Steely & Clevie 50%. Browne denies this, maintaining that the splits were never revised. “The split was one-third/one-third/one-third from day one. The song was, recorded 1990, registered in 1991. And that split is aligned with past practices for a three-way split in light of Steely & Clevie’s contributions as composers and authors,” he told DancehallMag.

Meanwhile, Tiger’s attorney-at-law, Everton Dewar, has revealed that he has been contacted by a lawyer from Greensleeves who claims that they received legal authorization from Gussie Clarke to handle the sample clearance and publishing of When for the Blue Green Red single. “I will be consulting with my clients, Tiger and his daughter Rhiality, with a view to taking the matter to court,” Dewar said.

Dewar added that he is yet to receive any written documentation from Gussie Clarke confirming that Clarke is authorized to act on Tiger’s behalf as a publisher. “Tiger has denied ever signing any documentation authorizing Clarke to act on his behalf as a publisher,” Dewar said.