The Weeknd has been accused of ripping off Portishead, with the trip hop outfit’s instrumentalist Geoff Barrow accusing the Canadian artist of sampling their track Machine Gun against their wishes in his new single Belong To The World.
Barrow took to his Twitter account to make the claim, saying that The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, had asked for permission to sample the song and, despite Portishead saying no, had used it anyway. “When someone asks to sample you and you refuse they should have the respect as a fellow artist to not use it,” Barrow said.
And when fans of The Weeknd suggested the refusal had been all about money, Barrow took offense:
“We usually give sample clearance to tunes we like. It’s got fuck all to do with money! As most of them are hip hop artists that are skint. Feels like I’m being used to promote the track now. I’ll shut up now.”
Ouch. Is that Barrow’s way of saying he didn’t care for Belong To The World to begin with? There’s been no response from The Weeknd yet but we’re waiting by our Twitter feed with a big bowl of popcorn. And it’s not the first time The Weeknd has been accused of ripping people off, after he charged fans $200 for a “signed” limited edition box set and didn’t even bother to sign the records by hand, instead choosing to print the signature on.
(via NME)
Listen: The Weeknd – Belong To The World
http://youtu.be/-Pq8GHBZFJI
Listen: Portishead – Machine Gun
@pitchforkmedia @theweeknd when someone asks to sample you and you refuse they should have the respect as a fellow artist to not use it.
— Geoff Barrow (@jetfury) July 15, 2013
We usually give sample clearance to tunes we like. its got fuk all to do with money! As most of them are hiphop artist that are skint.
— Geoff Barrow (@jetfury) July 15, 2013
