Phrarell Williams | Hip-Hop and Politics

So singer Robin Thicke has been making a lot of noise this summer with his hit song ‘Blurred Lines‘ . Many upon hearing it thought it sounded remarkably similar to a hit song done damn near 30+ years ago by the late Marvin Gaye. The name of that song was ‘Got to Give It Up’..

In order to avoid a contentious lawsuit, Thicke and producers/ song writers Pharrel Williams and rapper T.I. decided to do what some are describing as a pre-emptive lawsuit against Marvin Gaye’s estate. According to what was written in the Hollywood Reporter…

The suit claims the Gaye family is alleging that “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” “feel” or “sound” the same, and that the “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.”

As for Funkadelic, there’s said to be claimed similarity between Thicke’s hit and Funakedlic’s “Sexy Ways.”

“But there are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” states the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition.”

The suit goes on to note that the intent of producing the song the way they did was to evoke and era and being nostalgic of a song and having it reflected in a composition is not copyright infringement.. The Gaye Estate sees it otherwise..They see it as a straight bite of the original.

This is an interesting tact because for years many have argued that creativity in music has been somewhat stifled due to lawsuits claiming that melody, riff or phrase whether redone or sampled belongs to someone else and thus lots of money must be paid to the label.

On the other hand the way that music made is by building off of whats come before where you add your own twist and take..In short its reworking of the song. It sounds like Thicke and company are trying to lay down ground work to ensure they don’t get caught up in a situation that often winds up being all about exploitation then it is honoring and preserving the work of an artist..You can peep a copy of the lawsuit below

Read the lawsuit here.

Here’s Marvin Gaye‘s song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp7Q1OAzITM