Hip-hop stars take note: If you lift a beat from anyone, no matter how obscure the artist, they will find out after your track becomes a huge single. In the most recent case, Chicago electronic artist Clive Tanaka has alleged in a lawsuit that Nicki Minaj and producer Red One (among others) stole the beat from his "Neu Chicago" track for the rapper's single "Starships."
Consider both songs below:
It's tough to deny that "Starships" sounds a heck of a lot like "Neu Chicago." Although the latter is much more laid back in its approach to a beach-going jam, the melody itself is near, if not exactly, identical. If you didn't bother listening to Tanaka's track above, just imagine taking the synth chords from the hook to "Starships" and replacing them with a steel drum playing the same line. And you have the hook to "Neu Chicago." The "higher than a motherf-----" rave is not jacked from Tanaka however.
If this suit is to succeed, Tanaka has to prove that he's a big enough presence in the electronic music world to legitimately draw the attention of Red One and co. Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot described the producer as "shrouded in self-imposed mystery," and noted that his 2011 LP "Clive Tanaka y su Orquesta" was only made available via download and cassette tape. However, Tanaka's lawyer pointed out that the video for "Neu Chicago" had received more than 100,000 YouTube views, and the song was used in a car commercial in Sweden. Which just so happens to be Red One's nation of residency.
Minaj, Red One and the other individuals named in the suit had not commented as of press time.
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