Bappi Lahiri, an icon of Indian music passed away on Tuesday night after succumbing to a sleep-related breathing disorder. 

The veteran composer had a career that spanned a length of 50 years, influencing millions around the world. His contribution to Bollywood’s disco era with the use of heavy synthesis and memorable hooks led to international artists looking to him for inspiration. 

© Bappi Lahiri Instagram

One such artist who may have borrowed a little too much from Bappi da for his comfort is none other than Hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre - who is also the founder of the famous Beats by Dre headphones - who ended up being sued by the Indian music legend for copying his song 'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' which was later remixed as 'Kaliyon Ka Chaman'.

© Dr. Dre

‘Thoda Resham Lagta Hai’ was a song composed by Bappi Lahiri for the 1981 film Jyoti, which ended up fading from relevance for a while before American producer DJ Quik sampled it for the Truth Hurts song ‘Addictive’ in 2002. 

The lyrics were written by Steve "Static Major" Garrett wrote the song's lyrics, while Dr Dre was the Executive Producer. For Quik it had just been an instrumental track he’d overheard on TV one morning, however, the tune turned out to be  'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' by Lata Mangeshkar, and their team’s failure to clear the rights to the song ended up making them open to a lawsuit.

Sargema had filed a massive $500 million lawsuit against Aftermath and Universal Music Group on September 12, 2002, further requesting the team of ‘Addictive’ to cease all performances and broadcasts of the song. 

This legal dispute was eventually settled in 2003 after Bappi Lahiri won the lawsuit against hip-hop legend Dr. Dre, and riding the song’s newfound popularity, it was remixed by Indian composer Harry Anand as 'Kaliyon Ka Chaman', with Assamese singer Shaswati Phukan lending her song for the record. 

Bappi da is survived by his wife Chitrani, daughter Reema, who is also a singer, and son Bappa Lahiri, who has a successful career as a music composer.

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