Chart-topping R+B babe Blu Cantrell has launched a blistering attack on chart rival Beyonce Knowles, claiming the Destiny's Child beauty is "ripping (her) off".

Cantrell, 28, is fuming after hearing Beyonce's new single Baby Boy, because she believes it's far too similar to her own Number One hit BREATHE. Both songs are edgy R+B tunes featuring dancehall star Sean Paul as a collaborator.

She moans, "Beyonce is talented and beautiful and I'm a fan, but she has a song out which is very similar to mine. She uses words which are in the hook of my song, and if she's that talented she shouldn't have to copy someone else.

"Her song Baby Boy has the exact word Breathe in the hook. She's ripping me off, but there is no animosity because I'm a very positive person. However, I'm a little disappointed because she is established and didn't have to do that. But she won't get away with plagiarising me, because I'm a Number One artist."

Blu's anger is increased because Beyonce chose to use Sean Paul in her song - and she reckons his presence is a direct dig at her, because she's been linked to Beyonce's current beau and sometime collaborator Jay-Z.

She adds, "Now she is doing a song with Sean Paul because I'm linked with Sean Paul, so I don't know what her intentions are. I'm not tit-for-tat like that. I don't waste my time sitting around trying to think about what Beyonce is thinking."

03/09/2003 13:53