Will.i.am Admits to Borrowing Song From DJ Arty
Will.i.am has admitted to an accidental copyright infringement after being accused of stealing a track by Russian DJ Arty.
The "Black Eyed Peas" singer and record producer admitted during a radio interview on Tuesday that he used parts of "Rebound" when composing "Let's Go" featuring Chris Brown. "Rebound" was developed by Arty along with producer Mat Zo.
"Arty is a dope producer so I wrote this song to 'Rebound' this last year." Will.i.am, whose full name is William Adams, told KIIS FM Radio. "I got in touch with Arty and showed it to him, did a different version to it 'cause I asked him [to] make it newer 'cause I don't just wanna take your song and rap over it."
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The different version, however, never made it to Adams's track, and instead, the original version was used, the record producer explained. He said that he and Brown later decided they "preferred writing over and using the [original] rebound."
It was Adams' intent to make sure that he resolved copyright issues before the song was released, but it appeared that something went wrong.
"Something happened and the clearance" didn't go through, according to the rapper.
For his part, DJ Arty originally took to Twitter to complain that Adams had taken his song. But the DJ has since gone quiet on the issue. His silence may be a sign that the two have come to terms. It appears the two have at least talked.
"Hopefully we resolved the issue," Adams said.
But appeared that the Black Eyed Pea singer didn't harbor any of his own hard feelings. He was complimentary of DJ Arty when speaking about him.
"I'm a fan of Arty. I think he's great and the world needs to know about how talented those guys are," Adams said. "It's sad that's turned into a fiasco."
