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Artist News
Childish Gambino’s manager denies This Is America plagiarism claims
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 26 June 2018
Childish Gambino’s manager has responded to plagiarism accusations against the rapper’s latest single, ‘This Is America’. Similarities between the song and Jase Harley’s 2016 track ‘American Pharoah’ are purely coincidental, says Fam Rothstein of Wolf + Rothstein. Although he didn’t quite put it like that.
“The internet is a place of no consequences”, said Rothstein in a now deleted tweet. “I hate that Toronto akademiks/every white blogger can say something as gospel and y’all take it. [‘This Is America’] is three years old and we have ProTools files to prove it. But fuck you and your moms, and your future foetuses. Stay blessed”.
Meanwhile, in the Reddit debate that sparked all of this, one user posted screengrabs of comments made by Harley on the matter, who said: “All artists get inspired by others. Artists being thirsty for bread is why people don’t wanna credit anyone for inspiration. It’s all love and support from me, glad if my record influenced his”.
So, yeah, there are similarities between the two tracks, but one side denies plagiarism and the other’s not bothered either way. This is no way to keep music lawyers in business. Anyway, have a listen to ‘This Is America’ and ‘American Pharoah’ to form your own opinion, if you like.
