Saweetie defends her decision to work with Dr. Luke

The rapper says she had a contractual "bundle deal" with the producer

Saweetie has spoken out about her reasons for working with Dr. Luke following the producer’s ongoing legal battle with Kesha.

In a new interview, the ‘Back To The Streets’ rapper was quizzed about her working relationship with Dr. Luke, who is currently involved in a defamation case with Kesha, after she sued him in 2014, alleging emotional abuse and sexual assault.

Dr. Luke (real name Lukasz Gottwald) produced Saweetie’s recent hit ‘Best Friend’ with Doja Cat, and the pair first started working together last summer on the song ‘Tap In’.

Saweetie previously insisted she had no idea about the allegations filed against Luke when she first agreed to work with the producer.

“I’m so green,” she said last year in the first of a multiple-part interview with Vulture. “Maybe that’s a double-edged sword because I’m coming into the studio and I’m not knowing who these people are. I was able to learn about all of his achievements, and all of the allegations as well, after a couple of sessions.”

In the recently released full version of the Vulture interview, Saweetie revealed she had a contractual “bundle deal” with Luke, which is why she continued to collaborate with him.

“When I was put in the position to work with him, it was a bundle deal,” she explained. “I had those songs for over two years. So what do you think? Do I compromise my artistry, do I keep them in the vault, or do I release them?”

When asked if she would work with Dr. Luke again, she asked the journalist: “What do you think?” before adding: “I think you have a good sense of my character by now…hopefully, we keep ourselves out of any controversial situation in the future.”

Back in April, Kesha was denied an appeal of a legal ruling that she defamed Dr. Luke, after the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the producer does not qualify as a “public figure”.

However, earlier this month, a new ruling stated that the producer will have to prove that Kesha made her initial claims against him with malicious intent.

The ruling, from New York Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter, also stated that Kesha will have the right to file a counterclaim to Gottwald’s defamation suit.

Following the ruling, Dr. Luke’s lawyer Christine Lepera said in a statement: “Today’s court hearing was only about a technical legal issue: the burden of proof at trial. Dr. Luke would have filed this case regardless of the burden of proof.

“At trial, Dr. Luke will prove to the jury, as he has always maintained, that Kesha spread a vicious lie to get out of her contracts.  Kesha refuses to make any claim against Luke that she had would have the burden of proof on—because she knows she would lose and that she is lying.”