Chicago artist Clive Tanaka claims that rapper Nicki Minaj plagiarized one of his songs to create her 2011 hip-hop/pop smash, "Starships," the Chicago Tribune reports, the underground artist now suing the star for copying the signature hook of "Neu Chicago."
Tanaka's artistry is shrouded in mystery. Fans don't know his real name or where he comes from, and he's never performed his electronic music before in public. Nonetheless, he has a dedicated following and is fiercely protective of his art, so much so that he's now filing a lawsuit under the name of his company, Tanaka Light Industries USA, against Minaj for allegedly lifting the catchy hook from his song, "Neu Chicago."
The lawsuit also names producer RedOne, a Moroccan producer and songwriter who's helped make hits for Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull and Lady GaGa, as well as songwriters Carl Falk, Wayne Hector and Rami Yacoub, all of whom worked on "Starships."
The suit claims that RedOne and Minaj's Swedish collaborators were likely around at the time "Neu Chicago" was being used in television on the radio for Swedish clothing and beverages advertisements.
"They had a very good opportunity to hear it," Christopher Niro, Tanaka's attorney, told the Chicago Tribune. "We believe they are similar to the point that it is nearly impossible for it to be a coincidence."
Copyright lawsuits are quite common in federal courts, according to the Chicago Tribune, especially where pop music is concerned. Recently Robin Thicke found himself in a legal battle with Marvin Gaye and the band Funkadelic's camp after the singer was accused of lifting from their compositions and genre for his summer smash, "Blurred Lines." In the world of music, where styles and beats are often derivative, the line often be "blurry" between imitation and paying tribute to a particular genre, so to speak.
"You want to reward creativity, but you don't want to accidentally punish people for using what are the building blocks of an entire style of music," Matthew Sag, a Loyola University Chicago law professor specializing in copyright infringement, told the Chicago Tribune. "No one owns a genre."
Sag explained that in the case of "Starships," Tanaka's camp will have to prove that the writers were living in Sweden at the time that "Neu Chicago" was on television, while Minaj and her team will have to provide evidence of their creative process during the song's composition and production.
"Starships" set a Billboard record by remaining in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 21 consecutive weeks. Some fans are wondering why it took Tanaka two years to sue Minaj after the song had first landed on the radio, while others maintain that the songs sound little, if nothing, alike.
Did Nicki Minaj and her team steal from Clive Tanaka's "Neu Chicago?" Listen to the audio of both songs below and decide for yourself!
