In the past couple weeks, there has been a lot of talk regarding Will.i.am blatently ripping off several original tracks by producers such as Arty and Mat Zo. In a recently aired interview with Kiss FM, Will.i.am attempted to “clear things up” with Arty and Mat Zo with the following comments:
“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, did a different version to it because I asked him [to] make it newer because I don’t just want to take your song and rap over it.
“We preferred writing over and using the [original] Rebound. Something happened and the clearance…hopefully, we resolved 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.”
We aren’t yet sure how Arty and Mat Zo will respond to Will.i.am‘s “apology”, but I’m sure everyone is eager to hear after the huge fuss it has caused since Will.i.am‘s album release.
UPDATE: While Arty’s statement was made just a few days prior to this interview, we would like to share it as it can lead to question a variety of points Will.i.am seems to bring up as defense:
I want to clarify the whole situation around “Rebound” once and for all.
First, I would like to share the same sentiments as Mat and thank our fans for all the support they’ve shown. However the fact remains that Will.I.Am has used our music in his new album #willpower, specifically our track “Rebound” which was came out on Anjunabeats, with no clearance or agreement from ourselves.Although my name was ILLEGALY putted on #willpower album credits, without my knowledge – I was never contacted or consulted by Interscope Records, and never signed any license agreements, considering the fact that “Rebound” was made in collaboration with Mat Zo, not only by me.
The matter is under review by our legal teams now and I will keep you updated
Read a summary of the whole ordeal, including Mat Zo’s response to the theft: HERE
Source: The Sun
