Black History Month is all about celebrating the impressive achievements of the many talented black artists, inventors, activists and celebrities that fill textbooks- and highlighting those that history often times fails to give the spotlight to.

…Which means also giving props to the black musicians that deserved better than having their songs stolen from them. So, in honor of #BHM, let’s get messy and get some justice for these singers.

Ashanti- Jennifer Lopez, “I’m Real”

Jenny from the Block got her big break from starring as Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla in Selena. Her early start in music was a vibe- R&B J Lo was a hit, scoring amazing collaborations with hit rappers back in the day. Little did we know that J Lo’s team was also out here keeping vocals from other singers in remastered songs.

Ashanti and Ja Rule had their own hit song, “Foolish”. According to Ja Rule, he had asked Ashanti to sing “I’m Real” as a reference for J Lo, who he claims the song was originally for. However, Irv Gotti seemed to have forgotten to take her vocals out- which you can clearly still hear in the hook.

Now, according to Ashanti, she demo’ed the track for Irv Gotti, saying that when she found out they had kept her in the background, “…it was bittersweet because I was really excited 'cause it was J.Lo. But I was so mad at Irv. I was like, ‘You know I wanted that record!’ … I was so mad, but I was happy at the same time because it was J.Lo.”

Usher- Jennifer Lopez, “Get Right”

J Lo on this list twice? Turns out the Bronx native had some bad blood with the Confessions singer since dropping her single, “Get Right”. Usher claims that the song he co-wrote with producer Rich Harrison was left off the album. The producer then apparently used the song in a recording session with J Lo. While J Lo’s “Get Right” has less horns than Usher’s unreleased song, it has a pretty similar vocal rhythm to it. Two strikes so far for the Bronx singer!

Marvin Gaye- Robin Thicke, “Blurred Lines”

Robin Thicke shocked the world with a wildly NSFW video starring some topless models for his equally controversial hit, “Blurred Lines”. The song, featuring Pharell Williams and T.I., faced heat for some really uncomfortably creepy lines. But whether or not the song hints at rape, the Marvin Gaye estate was not having it, stating that the song clearly was more than just inspired by Marvin Gaye’s sound- it was basically the same song, just different lyrics. The Gaye estate took Thicke to court twice, citing that “Got To Give it Up” was protected by copyright laws and since “Blurred Lines” was clearly a carbon copy of Gaye’s hit song, it was payday. While Thicke’s team argued that being influenced by the sound and beat of another song isn’t copyright infringement, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Gaye estate was entitled to about 50% of all royalties earned by Thicke’s summer hit- forever. Talk about tough luck.

Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton- Elvis Presley, “Hound Dog”

In February 1953, Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton released “Hound Dog”, a blues record that spent 14 weeks on the chart. It was her only hit record, selling about two million copies. Imagine her surprise when in 1956, Elvis Presley re-recorded her song and it became an instant classic. In fact, it is still his most popular song to this day.

Thornton’s song- repurposed for a white audience, sold over 10 million copies and held the record for 11 weeks on three different charts for 36 years. But it wasn’t with her name attached to it. The King of Rock n’ Roll wasn’t very original anyways, as he had heard the song from another band during his rocky few years performing a flop act in Las Vegas.

Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon- Led Zeppelin, “Whole Lotta Love”

This isn’t Led Zeppelin’s first time apparently stealing songs. Some argue that their most famous song, “Stairway to Heaven”, was ripped off of the band Spirits’ song, “Taurus”. What’s crazy about this case is that Willie Dixon sued Led Zeppelin twice for copyright infringement.

In 1972, Dixon argued in court that Led Zeppelin’s “Bring it On Home” sounded way too much like Sonny Boy Williamson’s song…also called “Bring it On Home”. Yikes. Led Zeppelin was forced to grant Dixon a writing credit for their song.

The drama continued in court with Willie Dixon suing Zeppelin again for “Whole Lotta Love”, which he argued was copyright infringement of “You Need Love”, another song written by Dixon and recorded by Muddy Waters. It ended up settled out of court, with Dixon receiving another writing credit with Zeppelin and the band looking like unoriginal thieves. Again.

Chuck Berry- The Beach Boys, “Surfin’ USA”

Brian Wilson was once listed as the only writer behind The Beach Boys song, “Surfin’ USA”. It took him only about 50 years to publicly come out saying that he “…took ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ and rewrote it into something of our own”. Even a second grader could give you a better excuse for copying someone else’s homework, but hey, at least Chuck Berry got writing credit and publishing royalties after the song’s release in 1963.

Marcus Gray- Katy Perry, “Dark Horse”

Katy Perry got her start in music as gospel singer Katy Hudson. However, her 2013 hit single, “Dark Horse”, proved that Perry still hadn’t completely left behind her Christian roots. Turns out the song was very clearly plagiarizing Christian rapper Marcus Gray’s song, “Joyful Noise”. The courts seemed to agree as well, ordering Perry and her team to pay up $2.78 million. The trial lasted a surprising 7 days with a jury, making it one of the few copyright infringement cases that ended that quickly and smoothly.

Gap Bands- Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson, “Uptown Funk”

You couldn’t go anywhere in 2014 without hearing Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s smash hit, “Uptown Funk”. Must’ve been really annoying for The Gap Band, who took the duo to court for copying their own song, “Oops Upside Your Head”. Mars and Ronson ended up having to give The Gap Band writing credits for their smash hit, and the court also allowed them a 17% share of all the song’s publishing royalties.

Marvin Gaye- Ed Sheeren, “Thinking Out Loud”

Marvin Gaye sure has been busy ‘influencing’ so many since he passed away! Ed Sheeran was originally sued in 2016 over “Thinking Out Loud” by a co-writer of “Let’s Get it On”. Unfortunately for him, was later slapped with a lawsuit from another company owning a third of the copyright on “Let’s Get It On”. The $100 million lawsuit is still ongoing, as Sheeran’s move for the case to be dismissed was overturned and sent to a jury. Sheeran’s defense that his song not being a sexual anthem like Gaye’s hit didn’t change the court’s mind that everything else, from the beats used, rhythm, tempo, backing chorus- basically EVERYTHING of “Let’s Get It On”, was copied in Sheeran’s song. Itisn’t a victory yet for the company suing; they will have to wait to see the ruling on another Led Zeppelin case currently on the way to the Supreme Court.

Any other artists you know that got done dirty and had their song stolen? Share it with us on Twitter @RareRadar!

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