Finally, we have whole-hearted, legitimate response from Will.i.am about stealing Arty & Mat Zo’s track, Rebound, for his new album. In an interview with the Associated Press, Will.i.am addresses the accusations that he stole Rebound for his track Let’s Go featuring Chris Brown. He admits that he used the track without full permission from “legal”:
That happens a bunch of times. Where legal takes so long but creative is instantaneous. And a lot of times, the community, for the sake of the art, bond with each other.
He also complains that not only did legal take too long but Arty didn’t tell him about Mat Zo. Or as Will.i.am calls him, “the other guy”:
What do I know? I give it to legal I’m not an attourney. I did my piece. I gave credit to the person who did it. It’s not my fault he didn’t tell me about the other guy. So who’s to blame? I didn’t know, I wasn’t in the room when you made it. You shoulda told me you had a collaborator.
Please Will.i.am, spare me your pleas for innocence. This is not a matter of legality, it is a matter of respect. Respect for the two producers that made the song that you simply added lyrics to. I am so sorry to hear that legal took so much longer than your “creative process”. If you truly cared for the music community you would contribute to it instead of taking from it.
But Will.i.am does bring up one good point; “So who’s to blame?”. He seems to feel that it is either his lawyers, or Arty’s fault that this whole thing blew up in his face. Meanwhile, he goes on to admit that he went ahead with the track without any authorization whatsoever from his legal team.
Just to jog your memory, this is the same person that said just a year ago stated “Dance music has taken off, because it’s the truth.” That is exactly what the music community needs now more than ever, the truth, so why don’t you give it to us?
Here is Arty and Mat Zo’s Reboud (skip to 1:00):
Will.i.am’s track Let’s Go:
