kele le roc: so don't give away...my song

KELE LE ROC adds new depth to my last post. First off, she is a huge Prince fan. Secondly, she has accused Justin Timberlake of stealing the chorus for his hit song "My Love" from her song of the same title "My Love (Garage 10 Below Mix)". Oh snap.

This may be a stretch, but doesn't this coincidentally echo the story of Effie White in Dreamgirls? Sorry. Golden Globes are still on the mind.

Returning to Kele Le Roc, her animosity towards Timberlake is illustrated further by the posting of Mad TV's "Like I Am You" on her page. The video accuses Justin of copying the style of another of Kele's idols, Michael Jackson.

Unfortunately, Justin isn't the only person who has been accused of biting other artists in the recent news. His buddy Timbaland, master of turning obscure samples into hits, has been accused of using many aspects of Finnish musician Janne Suni's song "Acid Jazzed Evening" for Nelly Furtado's "Do It". To make matters worse, Timbaland also submitted the beat in 2005 as an "original ringtone" called "Block Party". You can watch videos featuring the clips here and here, or check out the original sound-files on somethingawful.

Frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about either of these instances. As someone pointed out on the somethingawful forums, "There's a saying in the music industry that the only true copyright for a piece of music is to make it famous before someone else does. Sorry." Sure.

It's also clear that Timbaland is a crazy sampler, particularly evident in Czar's samples of the week at The Thomas Crown Chronicles. However, in most cases, Timbaland gives credit to the original artist. You can't get away with sampling Stevie Wonder without paying the checks. The debate here is that Mr. Mosley supposedly took a track that was available for free to download and used it to produce his own "original" work. It's a tricky situation. I am conflicted inside because even if Timbaland did steal the song, I only lose an ounce of respect for him. An ounce.

But fuck. I'd be pissed if he stole my shit. Pissed.

On the other side of things, I would like to hear Kele's original version before I make the judgment that Justin stole her arrangement. Currently, she has made a version of her song with the original chorus over Timbaland's instrumental available, and I'm not sure how much it proves just yet. Have a listen to it, and decide for yourself.

DOWNLOAD: KELE LE ROC f/ MISTA MILL- My Love
(R&B jam sung over "original" instrumental by Timbaland)
- buy it - space it - site it -

DOWNLOAD: TIMBALAND- Block Party (ringtone)
just added!

Before I get accused of biting myself, let me give major credit to Beauty n the Beat for this post.

BLOGWATCH: Arjan Writes brings us a song by Alice Smith, who (as he says) "can solely rely on her raw talent as opposed to being dependent on Timabland-inspired big beat productions that are ruling the U.S. charts." Not a good day for Timbo it seems...On a different note, Funky16corners has a new mix up featuring Otis Redding, Betty Harris, and much more. Bigstereo has (funky fresh) bandanas for sale!