The controversy about "If I Were A Boy"- I met BC Jean via MySpace, and when I saw her talent, I invited her over to NYC to write a few songs together. Ten songs later, I tried to get her connected to managers, publishers and record labels in order to get her a record deal. Many months and rejections later we said "look, we tried everything but we could not get a record deal, let's at least try to shop those songs we wrote to other artists and get one of the songs to become a hit first, this way the songs will live and it can even open doors for BC." So I began playing the songs to other artists. On a session I had with Beyonce, I played her the song and she immediately wanted to record it. After BC heard that recording, she changed her mind. I don't want to elaborate on what happened after but we resolved it amicably and I am happy that as a result of the success of the single, BC got signed to J-records
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we wrote tne songs and I wanted to shop around for a record deal. one of those songs was If I were a boy. she was angry with her boyfriend and said 'if i were a boy I wouldn't do that, I thought, hold on, that sounds like a title. I tried to find her a record deal but nobody wanted to put the money on the table. so I pitched the songs to other artists.
a few months later I was in studio with beyonce and plated her the song, she jumped up and said toby, I want to sing this song right now' back then it sounded more like a rock song. but a few hours later it sounded amaing. beyonce really added another dimension to the song.
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