Today President Obama’s personal bard, will.i.am, dropped another single from his long-delayed album, #willpower. And in what is becoming a regularly scheduled program, yet another lesser-known musician is crying foul that the pop music panderer has jacked his song and released it as his own.
British DJ duo Mat Zo and Arty have taken up arms on Twitter, accusing will.i.am of ripping off their production and adding something allegedly resembling "lyrics" sung with woman-beater Chris Brown.
Let’s look at will.i.am’s "Let’s Go," which might be short for "Let’s Go Steal Euro DJ Song":
And here is the aforementioned "Rebound" by Arty & Zo:
If only the rapper decided to sample a song with lyrics, maybe he could borrow better rhymes. YouTube any of will.i.am’s songs. The guy has to release visually appealing music videos to distract you from his god-awful words.
Lest we forget, will.i.am has a history of dabbling in some healthy copyright infringement. Lesser-known artists as far back as Obama’s first term have been speaking against the rapper.
will.i.am is fending off allegations of copyright infringement on two songs on the same tardy album. UK pop artist Tulisa (I haven’t heard of her either) has discussed slapping will.i.am with a lawsuit for taking the lyrics she wrote for "I Don’t Give a F***" and turning them into a double platinum record with Brittney Spears in "Scream and Shout." Bringin’ in the action, indeed.
When not sampling heavily from other people’s production, will.i.am has produced an impressive catalog of songs supporting Obama, ranging from "It’s A New Day" to "We Are the Ones." It's a catalogue best known for music videos starring B-Listers entering the political arena, fist-pumping for relevance.
Then there's his magnum opus, "Yes We Can", an Obama hymn sampling a 2008 New Hampshire Primary campaign stop. You remember the New Hampshire primary. Obama lost it to Hilllary Clinton by three points.