Mathew pays for ‘Regret’ boycott?

Posted Thu, 2009-10-29 12:08 by Anonymous

There are rumors that Mathew Knowles is trying to keep LeToya Luckett’s “Regret” off of radio.

A source from the Knowles camp told The Prophet Blog that Mathew is actually paying stations not to play her latest single, “Regret.” Reportedly, Mathew doesn’t want the single to blow up because he thinks LeToya might outshine Beyoncé if they get the same amount of airtime.

“Mathew is paying these stations off to boycott her,” the unnamed insider stated in an e-mail. “He’s totally obsessed with this Letoya Luckett girl. Wasting time making sure radio stations don’t play her songs, and particularly right now making sure ‘Regret” doesn’t get any bigger than it already is.”

“I absolutely don’t understand why he thinks her success would overshadow Beyoncé’s,” they added.”

“Regret” is currently #5 on the Mediabase Urban music chart, which would qualify her for heavy rotation. While her airplay has increased at some stations, a look at several prominent hip-hop station playlists, including that of New York’s Hot 97, shows that she’s not being played.

Supposedly, the source said, Bey knows what her dad is up to, but she’s not doing anything to stop him because she trusts him. Keep in mind that payola is an illegal practice, so Mathew says the cash is for concert reviews.

“These expenses are covered up as a trip to go see Beyoncé’s tour,” the tipster claims. “What’s nice is that these stations’ music directors can pick two to three dates anywhere in the world and travel for free. Mathew of course pays for travel expenses as well as $850 ‘courtesy checks.’”

According to the source, one undisclosed station got with the program quick because of their ties to Jay-Z.

No matter what Mathew’s allegedly doing , though, LeToya is moving forward with recording a video for “Regret,” which features Ludacris. Check out shots from the set below.