Beyoncé was apparently so enamored by the vocals of a Hungarian folk singer that she swiped them to use in her hit song “Drunk in Love’’ with husband Jay Z — without compensating the Roma artist, according to a new lawsuit.
“Internationally acclaimed Hungarian Roma singer’’ Mónika Juhász Miczura, known as Mitsou, says in court papers that Beyoncé recorded her voice in 1995 while Mitsou was singing the traditional folk song “Bajba, Bajba Pelem,’’ which she learned from her grandmother.
“Mitsou’s voice was [then] sampled and digitally manipulated without her permission” for Beyoncé’s Grammy-nominated “Drunk in Love,’’ the suit charges.
Mitsou says friends told her they heard her singing a capella for the first 13 seconds of Beyoncé’s song after it was suddenly released without any promotion last December.
Then Beyonce’s voice joins in and Jay Z raps alongside her.
“All together, Mitsou’s vocals are featured for over 1¹/₂ minutes of the 5¹/₂-minute song,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
The sampling “evokes foreign eroticism alongside the sexually intense lyrics performed by Beyoncé and Jay Z,” the suit says.
The song’s video, which won Best Collaboration at the MTV Video Music Awards, opens with a black-and-white scene of a beach at night, followed by Mitsou’s solo.
It’s been viewed 236 million times on YouTube.
The original recording of “Bajba, Bajba Pelem” was released in the United States under the title “Gypsy Life on the Road” by North Pacific Records in 1997, according to the court filing.
“Mitsou has never signed any documents that would permit anyone to use her voice for advertising or trade purposes,” the suit says.
The Hungarian is also suing Jay Z, claiming the superstar duo has been “unjustly enriched to the detriment of Mitsou.”
Their “blatant unauthorized use of [her] voice for trade purposes is causing irreparable harm and emotional distress” to Mitsou, the suit says.
She’s seeking unspecified damages.
Representatives for the couple did not return calls seeking comment.
Warning: Explicit language