Bands and gimmicks – who?d have thought that some artists use them as a fall back when we realise that the music they release is gash? Fake London type Pete Doherty has a hilarious heroin routine which sees him in constant bother with the local law enforcement. Elsewhere, X-Factor winner Leona Lewis continues in her quest to make a tin of paint seem more exciting than her personality.
So one band we can never work is American chumps The Black Eyed Peas. Fronted by a man whose mother has a terrible understanding of grammar, will.i.am and joined by Fergie, a woman who isn't shy of urinating herself on-stage for either her own sick pleasure, or fans of golden showers. Grammar and whizzing your pants. Some gimmick!
Anogther trick used by the band is to employ the thinking that using choruses from other people?s songs and releasing them for thick people to buy. However, one of their songs will never be played again. You see, ‘My Humps’ has gotten into all-sorts of complicated legal mishaps.
The song itself is something Hugh Hefner would give a personal seal of approval on. It sounds like some sort of appreciation of women with small breasts. How refreshing to hear that The Black Eyed Peas won't discriminate people depending on the size of their mammaries.
However, if some of the hecklerspray writers got their moobs out and rubbed them in the face of Will.I.Am, we doubt he'd be inking raps that sing our praises. Feel free to view the video monstrosity for yourself, featuring all sorts of over the top brand placement for stuff you\’ll never be able to afford:
At the time of its release, My Humps sold bucket loads, but not all of the work on the track can be accredited to the band.
Due to the tedious nature of sampling, certain parts of My Humps had been borrowed from a track from some unknown DJ going under the catchy title of DJ Orrin Lynn Tolliver.
Released under the name Sexual Harassment with collaborator James McCant, there is a striking resemblance to what The Black Eyed Peas vomited out:
Squabbles broke out over the use of the sample and a judge subsequently ruled in favour of DJ Orrin Lynn Tolliver, rewarding him with $1.2 million in damages and profits ? but not Sexual Harassment. Confused? Let us badly explain.
This is where you'd probably expect us to go on a rant where we?d call Will.I.Am and his band a load of sample lifting bandits. However, the original song was recorded by DJ Tolliver with James McCant. McCant was the person who seemingly licensed out the track to The Black Eyed Peas without telling his mate, DJ Tolliver. He got upset that he was never asked and then ironically made more money that if he’d given permission. The moral of the story? Basically, if your mate sells out without your knowledge, you can pretty much cash in at some point.
Does will.i.am know about this fierce legal battle? Probably not, not judging by this quote anyway:
“It wasn’t lyrical miracles. It got to the point where we didn’t want to play it no more. But the beat was rocking.”
Aww, a ?lyrical miracle.? It sounds like something that would appear in a gangster rappers first ?wurdz? book when they learn to read and write at the age of 14.
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dug says
you should learn a new song, you dont even know leona lewis and you make these stupid comments about a fellow human being just to try and make yourself feel a bit better about yourself, you should be big and tell her to her face what you think about her, but small minded cretins like you hide behind your pillows at night
Arthur ASCii says
Interesting tale, I had always wondered about this; I Need A Freak is an old favourite of mine and it was a pretty blatant rip.
Cookie Monster says
Everyone knows that the definitive version is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRmYfVCH2UA