Don't Stop the Music

In February 2009, Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango sued Rihanna and Michael Jackson, claiming that the "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" hook in "Don't Stop the Music" came from his 1972 single "Soul Makossa". According to Agence France-Presse, Jackson had admitted borrowing the line for his 1983 single "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and settled out of court. When Rihanna asked Jackson in 2007 for permission to sample the line, he allegedly approved the request without contacting Dibango beforehand. Dibango's attorneys brought the case before a court in Paris, demanding €500,000 in damages and asking Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music to be barred from receiving "mama-say mama-sa"-related income until the matter was resolved.

The judge ruled the claim inadmissible. A year earlier, a different Paris-area judge had required Universal Music to include Dibango's name in the liner notes of future French releases of the song, and Dibango had withdrawn legal action at that time, waiving his moral right to seek further damages.

The track itself appeared on Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, and was released worldwide on September 7, 2007, as its fourth single by Def Jam Recordings. It reached number one in ten countries, including Australia, France, Germany and Switzerland, and peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the UK it hit number four and was certified triple platinum by the BPI. The song was later nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 50th Grammy Awards.