Baauer In Hot Water Over Unlicensed ‘Harlem Shake’ Samples

Having previously blasted Azealia Banks for her supposedly unauthorised use of his track Harlem Shake, the tables have now turned on DJ/Producer Baauer – he’s been busted by two separate artists for using their voices without permission in the worldwide smash and his record label Mad Decent has been dragged into the firing line with him.

An article in the The New York Times has detailed how Hector “El Father” Delgado, a former reggaeton artist who drops the “con los terroristas” line in the tune, and Jayson Musson, the rapper who instructs us to “do the Harlem Shake”, are seeking compensation from Baauer. As it turns out, neither ever gave permission for their voices to feature in the track, let alone so prominently.

Delgado himself complains that “it’s almost like they came on my land and built a house”, and his management clearly isn’t too pleased either. Javier Gomez, who manages Delgado, has explained that the “con los terroristas” line can be traced back to Delgado’s single Maldades, and has been used in other tracks by the artist, and also that the line has previously been known as Delgado’s “trademark”. Gomez has come out all guns blazing with some stern words to Baauer and his crew, stating, “We can turn around and stop that song. That’s a clear breaking of intellectual property rights.”

In Baauer’s defense, there was no way to ever predict that the track would blow up so massively but, hey, here we are and now the two aforementioned musicians want answers and recognition. For this, they have also looked to the Diplo-headed Mad Decent records, to which Baauer is signed. Delgado’s record label Machete Music is apparently in talks with Mad Decent to resolve the issue. As for Musson, he doesn’t seem too pissed by the situation, telling The Times that all at Mad Decent have “been more than cooperative” in resolving the issue.

Only time will tell whether this turns into a fully fledged legal battle. For now, you can check out two of the tracks in question below.

Hector El Father – Los Terroristas (sample at 0:20)

Plastic Little – Miller Time (sample at 3:54)

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