Bone Thugs-n-Harmony manager accuses Mariah Carey of stealing her vocal style and music

Sept. 23, 2009 - PRLog -- Bobby Francis, the manager for multi-platinum rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, accused singer Mariah Carey of both copying her vocal style from another artist and using that artists' "smash hit" as a blueprint for all of her own hit singles.

In a thread he created on the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony message board BTNHBoard.com, Francis claims that "many music lovers across the world don't realize that [Felecia Howse's] HIT song serves as a the blueprint for every HIT song that Mariah Carey has ever recorded, since she heard Felicia's Song missile and copied/borrowed/used her vocal style ever since!"

Francis alleges that Felecia Howse, who is the wife of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's Layzie Bone, recorded a song entitled "So Good" that went to serve as inspiration for Mariah Carey. It is believed that "So Good" refers to the Mo Thugs Family song "It's All Good", which was released in 1998 and features Felecia as well as Krayzie Bone.

As Mariah Carey was already a well-established artist at the time, the claim seems to be unfounded. "[Bobby Francis' claim] is the purest form of attention seeking. Francis is unable to properly market Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, so he instead attempts to draw attention to himself and the group by making absolutely preposterous accusations that have no merit in reality," said an anonymous source familiar with Bobby Francis.

Mariah Carey has collaborated with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony on numerous occasions. These collaborations include her 1997 single "Breakdown" as well as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's 2007 track "Lil' L.O.V.E."