Above & Beyond¡¯s label, Anjunabeats have finally released an official word regarding the controversial Will.I.Am fiasco.
The trouble started when Will.i.am sampled some music from Arty and Mat Zo¡¯s popular collaboration album, ¡®Rebound¡¯, without the duo¡¯s permission.
The beat was used for Will.i.am¡¯s new track, ¡®Let¡¯s Go¡¯ featuring controversial hip-hop artist Chris Brown. This is the second song that reportedly featured the same beats and samples, with the other song being ¡®Bang Bang¡¯ ¨C whose music is similar to Sandro Silva and Quintino¡®s smash hit ¡®Epic¡®.
The official statement from Anjunabeats said that Will.i.am indeed used similar beats from Arty, but was without permission.
¡°Although Arty (but not Mat Zo) was credited in the sleeve notes, this is not the same as obtaining permission. To present someone else¡¯s work as your own, you need to seek permission, agree terms and file paperwork, which has not happened in this case.
¡°We¡¯ve remained silent on this issue until now but as a record label it is our obligation to protect our artists¡¯ interests and we felt it was necessary to respond to some of the inaccuracies that have been reported following Will.i.am¡¯s recent comments to Associated Press.¡±
Will.i.am has tried to play dumb and claim that Arty ¡®knew about the sample beforehand¡¯. Arty though admitted that he was contacted by Will.i.am but declined to work with him at the time.
Regardless, it looks like Will.i.am went ahead and took those beats without permission. Now, he¡¯s going to have to pay it all back.