Here we go again, folks.
Back in September, The Chainsmokers quietly added credits from The Fray’s Isaac Slade and Joe King to “Closer” after it was found that the piano from the track “Over My Head (Cable Car)” sounded extremely similar to the main melody from the new dance track. After what could have been an impending lawsuit, one critic speculated that the credits had been added by The Chainsmokers as part of a settlement.
Now, it appears the electronic duo may have borrowed a piece of another song for the hit track, “Don’t Let Me Down.” Reddit user u/whySoserious01 posted to the EDM subreddit on Sunday with a link to a 2011 German rap song “Poesie Album” off the fourth studio album by Hamburg artist Samy Deluxe. In the description, the Reddit user states that The Chainsmokers basically took the sample straight from the Samy Deluxe track and used it as one of the main sections on “Don’t Let Me Down.”
“Ever since I’ve heard the song I was wondering where I’d heard the first part of it before. It sounded so familiar. I haven’t found any answer on the Internet, until i came across a popular german rap song.”
While the incident with The Fray in September was a bit more open to interpretation, the new comparison is truly a blatant one. The bouncy guitar plucks and accompanying melody from the two tracks are nearly identical, with only a few slight tweaks in The Chainsmokers’ version.
Currently, ASCAP does not show Samy Deluxe (Samy Sorge) as one of the credited writers.
Compare the two tracks in question below, and let us know what you think about their relation.
If we look back at a video posted by Taggart in April, the process of creating the opening lines of “Don’t Let Me Down” was done in the studio and not via a sample. Regardless, it remains unclear whether the idea or inspiration was taken directly from “Poesie Album” or not. Watch below.
Photo by Christina Kuhlmann Photography