Rappers being influenced is nothing new — mainstream artists often borrow elements of cadence, style, and song structure. Sometimes, though, this is done without permission, which journey’s into the territory of straight up biting. Artists, such as Ludacris for example, have been accused in the past of stealing the ‘special sauce’ from artists they come across on YouTube, rendering many of the artists unable to rebutle in court against money and influence.
One such situation was recently submitted to our editors with a claim that Rapper Future Hendrix stole elements from Decatur, GA, upstart Doc Will, to craft his record “Lil’One” from his [now] platinum-selling DS2 record.
https://soundcloud.com/drdocwill/dont-make-me
You’ll hear the [main] elements that Future played with on the song’s chorus — it’s a little uncanny, and hard to imagine the Future had never heard Doc Will’s record. Here’s a few facts:
- They are both from East Atlanta so there’s no telling if Future or someone close to him heard it around town.
- In an interview, Doc Will mentioned that he got his song played at Follies and that’s a strip club Hendrix references, a lot. Perhaps he was there when it got played or someone he’s close to was.
As our source goes in to describe,
“LISTEN to the bells in the beat, and also to the way he says ‘Don’t Make Me’ when the record first comes on. Way too fucking similar.”
At the end of the day, when an unknown rapper steals a notable piece of say a Biggie Smalls record, or a Jay-Z line — it can be seen as an homage, and if it gets too much, the artists will sue. But when the tables are turned, unsigned artists are expected to just take it as a compliment and watch someone make millions from their thought process. That’s kind of messed up.
Take a listen to the two records, what do you think? Hit our Twitter stream and let us know!
