FYI | will.i.am Responds to “Rebound” Theft Accusations
Posted by Middy on April 27, 2013
After admitting to the theft on the radio a few days ago, will.i.scam has gone on camera with the Associated Press in an interview about the issue. He attempts to deflect blame of the whole thing from himself by saying Arty in an email was “excited” and that this is an issue for the Interscope legal team. This purported email directly contradicts Arty’s statement that he and Anjunabeats had never been contacted for clearance, so I would be interested to see proof of it. He never says it is Arty in the interview, but he mentioned Arty in the Kiss FM interview and as of now Arty is credited as a writer for the song (illegally according to Arty). Will.i.am continues on to claim ignorance that he did not know there was another guy (Mat Zo) and that it was Arty’s job to notify him of a collaborator on the song and not will.i.am’s job as an “artist” to actually know the music he was stealing. He also passes the blame onto legal and its long bureaucratic processes, because those things just can’t be changed.
I don’t get it. I have searched the web for a version of “Rebound” that is just labeled as Arty and it simply does not exist. To claim ignorance that the song is just an Arty track is thinking that he can fool the world and we will not fall for it. “Rebound” is as much a Mat Zo track, as it is an Arty track. Making that claim just diminishes his plummeting status as an artist anyway. Will.i.am is pulling a Shaggy right now and trying to say it wasn’t me even though IT CLEARLY WAS. We caught you in your studio Will, hope you didn’t leave any spare keys around.
via Associated Press
Dubstep | Nero – Into The Past (Preview)
Posted by Middy on April 23, 2013
There are few films generating the buzz of The Great Gatsby, and its soundtrack is a part of that. Executively produced by Jay-Z, the star-studded soundtrack has contributions from Florence & The Machine, Lana del Rey, Jay-Z, Nero, Gotye and many more. The full preview of Nero’s contribution has been released by Interscope (who is still dealing with the will.i.scam scandal), giving us a peak into their production process that has been quiet of late as they gear up for their first album since 2011 album, “Welcome Reality“.
The cinematic single from the British dubstep trio, “Into The Past”, shows the complex, melodic stylings that have made them one of the hottest dubstep groups today. The combination of emotive strings, female vocals from the third member of the trio, Alana, and a soothing low end, makes this a perfect contribution for the movie from Nero. The entire soundtrack will be released May 7th
Pre-order on iTunes
FYI | will.i.am owns up to the Theft of Arty & Mat Zo’s “Rebound”
Posted by Middy on April 23, 2013
After the internet rightfully made a big fuss about will.i.scam’s theft and Chris Brown’s beat down of Mat Zo & Arty’s massive single “Rebound” without anybody’s permission, he took to the radio to comment on what he was thinking or not when he made the song. With a long history of ripping others off, deflecting these type of questions would be second nature to him, like a politician in a debate.
He went on Kiss FM to clear things up as to why he felt it was ok to take whole sections of another song and add them to his.
Arty is a dope producer so I wrote this song to Rebound this last year. I got in touch with Arty and showed it to him… but something happened and hopefully we can resolve the issue. It’s sad that it’s turned into a fiasco but hopefully it’s resolved, because I’m a fan of those guys. I contacted them last year and we’re fixing it now.
So I guess what this means is that if will.i.scam is a fan of your music, your tunes are totally free game for shameless “sampling”. If I was a producer, like Hardwell, I would conduct a stealth ninja mission and delete all of my music from his computer, back up hard drives and all USBs, and then Men in Black mind wipe him so he never knew your music existed. Then repeat again in a year. He STILL may get to your music in that time, but this seems like it would be the only way.
In terms of this situation, unless Arty & Mat Zo are willing to fight Interscope to have the song pulled from the album, which seems pretty unrealistic since it was already released and in stores all over the country and soon the world, they will just have to settle for a FATA$$ paycheck.
via The Sun
FYI | Will.I.Am ft. Chris Brown “Let’s Go” Steals Mat Zo & Arty’s Rebound
Posted by Middy on April 16, 2013
I was seriously debating on giving this song any pub at all because it deserves to be relegated to bottom of the music totem pole without anybody noticing. But that is the problem, nobody notices and nobody cares that such a great song from two of the best up and coming producers was so wantonly stolen by will.I.am and his band of merry writers. But why this one, Pitbull “samples” songs all the time, Flo Rida the same, it is really nothing new in this climate of heavy sampling in modern pop music. But, when big money is tossed around to shut people up and the threat of big label lawyers coming down on a “small time” artist like Arty or Mat Zo, they are almost surely going to settle on this, instead of facing the reality of going after Interscope and all of their legal might.
Anjunabeats DID NOT clear the sample so there is a case against will if they want to fight him. Maybe it was another producer who snuck this one in there, but I really don’t see how a large sample like this could have snuck by everyone at such a large label on a release as big as this. They either felt they could get away with this, or thought they could bully Mat Zo and Arty out of their own music. It remains to be seen if that will happen, but as the day continues, it seems as though a fight is brewing and there may be some high powered lawyers joining the side of Arty & Mat Zo. I can see exactly why Mat Zo deleted his twitter account yesterday because would have gone apesh*t on will.i.am. Stream both tracks to hear the obvious theft and then after the jump hear ANOTHER theft of Sandro Silva & Quintino’s “Epic”, which is sadly kind of old news by now because it has been done so many times.
House, Videos | Zedd performs “Clarity” live on the David Letterman Show
Posted by Middy on January 4, 2013
A spot usually reserved for anyone but a Dj, Zedd made his US network television debut last night on the David Letterman show, performing “Clarity” live. Zedd displayed his talents on the piano, showing us his versatility as a musician, Foxes gives a B effort on vocals, some live great strings and most importantly Alvin Risk on backup vocals killing it in that scarf that Letterman wanted at the end. This just shows the power of having a major label (Interscope) behind you and the doors they can open for any artist.
Hip-Hop, Rap | Kendrick Lamar – Compton ft. Dr. Dre + Album Tracklist
Posted by Grubeats on October 2, 2012
October 22nd can’t come soon enough. Although Kendrick has now released four of the deluxe 17 tracks, no fan is satisfied. When you have an aura like Kendrick Lamar, too much is never enough. After hearing one banger from Dot and Doc in “The Recipe”, the Cali kings return with an organic track produced by Just Bliggity Blaze chanting for the one and only city of “Compton”. I’ve included the recently released track listing for the album after the break. Strap up, this is the future.
Hip-Hop, Pop | Jared Evan – One Good Thing [Music Video]
Posted by Grubeats on September 3, 2012
Jared Evan. Don’t forget that name. I came across the multi talented musician hailing from NYC a couple of weeks ago on DJBooth and instantly found myself replaying his free debut EP, The 4th Chapter. Jared is a very special artist because his style is so unique and fuses so many different genres. In his song “Traffic Light”, my personal favorite, he confidently opens up his rap verse by saying, “You say I’m rock but I’m not, I’m hip-hop but I’m pop, and all they label me as is a Kid Rock with a shot“, before diving further into how his style is often defined. If you’re wondering who’s singing and who’s rapping on each track, know that Jared is doing both. Beginning as a rapper, he decided he would prefer to fill the bridges with his own voice rather than finding someone who could deliver exactly what he was looking for on each track. Rapping, singing, drums, guitar, piano, self production, the list goes on for Jared.
While the EP has a little bit of everything to offer, the video above for “One Good Thing” epitomizes the beauty of music. This is one of the most powerful messages in the album and tells a lot about Jared as an artist and as a person. If you L-O-V-E this song and video, be sure to grab the entire FreEP below.
DOWNLOAD: Jared Evan – The 4th Chapter | Purchase on iTunes
