Nas vs. Wordsmith ????

StraDivaRius

So determined....
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 94
Whats good people,
Its your boy Strada checking in for a quick story!

Some of you might have heard of Wordsmith. I have been producing all his major songs for the past 2 years. One of them being As the art fades away http://www.myspace.com/classicwordsmithmusic. We produced this about 1.5 year ago and it was performed throughout the country by Wordsmith and getting a lot of radio play..last friday there was a song released by Nas named Suriving the game http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.3238/title.nas-surviving-the-game#comments...
There has been a lot of discussion on a few sites as to where the song was copied or not.
I have been doing this for way too long to be all heated or sensitive about this but I wanted the Illmuzik Fam opinion.

The drums are different, sample is the same used in very similar way, the hook is the same, the subject of rhymes is very similar as well....
just wanted yall opinion, let me know whats good...
Peace
Strada
 

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
The sample is of course the exact same, yeah I would say it's copied. It could be a complete coincidence but the odds of that happening are worse than if MikeLabz, OpenMind, and Acebeatz were to be un-banned!
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
Those are the problems you run into when you loop sample! If you want to keep the song now, I'd chop that shit up and create another melody and put it back out. I doubt if Nas had anything to do with it. A producer probably shop'd it to him and said it was an artist he was working with that didn't work out or something. He probably told Nas that he co-wrote the lyrics and that's why Nas stayed with the same rhyme scheme. The scheme is not to far off from his norming scheme anyway. IMO you really can't say that they bit the track because it's a loop'd sample. Neither you nor them can claim that as your own. I would be inclined to say your "concept" of the song was in fact mimic'd though. It's basically the same storyline as Wordsmith's.

Did you submit a copyright? If so you could at least bargain with Nas and possibly get Wordsmith on the track with him. That would be a good look!
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
i actually didnt loop the song, if you really listen, he looped it but i took every part and chopped it up, and the piano line as well. I wish i could just call up Nas and bargain...if anybody got his number HOLLA


Send a certified letter to Def Jam c/o Mike Brinkley/Nas that's Nas's A&R for his new album. Label: The Jones Experience/Def Jam. I'd send them a copy of your song as well. Shit, get they're phone number and periodically call them up and ask to speak to his A&R. I'm sure you'll get a response with that certified letter though. Make that shit look all professional and have it coming from one of your reps...like your manager. Whether you have one or not, make it up. A company letterhead would be a nice touch as well. Try it!
 

Vice

9ine 2o 5ive Live
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 71
to my ears neither beats sounds too chopped, they both sound like a loop of the original. I think it was a coincidence. It was a dope sample, but I think both producers coulda came with a more creative chop, especially if you're planning on puttin somethin out on that level. I loop samples alot, cause i like to see what I can compose over em, but if someone happened to sample the exact same part, then I wouldn't sweat it. I guess that's the price you pay for sampling.
 

slik da relic

RS Jedi
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
this is one of the reasons i stopped loopin as well... it used ta get me tite to hear similar shit i worked on in the house on the radio, and everyone tellin u, you bit... ultimately, it comes down to, DID U CLEAR IT???!!! i would think Nas did... RS for life bitches!!!

da relic
 

dacalion

Hands Of FIRE!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 259
but yeah i mean they used the same vocal sample for the hook , they use the same phrase as intro and some sequence in sample...

i actually didnt loop the song, if you really listen, he looped it but i took every part and chopped it up, and the piano line as well. I wish i could just call up Nas and bargain...if anybody got his number HOLLA

Jacked in my opinion, simply because the whole idea of flipping a sample is to make it something new and what the odds on having all this in common?

Suggestion - forget contacting Nas, contact a lawyer and go in for a counciling, he will dig and find out whether its worth persueing or not.

Welcome back Starda, long time for real
MAN ON FIRE
 

Vice

9ine 2o 5ive Live
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 71
i actually didnt loop the song, if you really listen, he looped it but i took every part and chopped it up, and the piano line as well. I wish i could just call up Nas and bargain...if anybody got his number HOLLA

I still think you both just found the same sample and used similar parts. If he just looped it, and you chopped it and they still sound the same....and both sound like the original.......then I think you shoulda chopped it differently.....cause it still sounds way to much like the original song....IMO. Especially cause you both took the main chorus and used it as your own......
 

dacalion

Hands Of FIRE!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 259
STOLEN...
I think i should steal that mobb deep beat... I liked that beat from Mobb Quite Storm, maybe i can rape that beat and make a hit... People bitch about Hip Hop being the same old shit, nothing new, and this hear further shows us that, these so called "Legends" are unoriginal as the next, who the fuck cares if chris webber produced this.. Chris Webber jacked a SAMPLE, and didnteven have the skill to bury it but blatently just copy the shit... pretty pathetic indeed... Everyone riding the dick on this ne needs to jump off and see the future of hip hop... WORDSMITH.. he did this a year ago... proof is in the pudding...


lmao, Strada is this you? hahaha thats a good reply, i feel ya on this one.

MAN ON FIRE
 

Krazyfingaz

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
Whats good people,
Its your boy Strada checking in for a quick story!

Some of you might have heard of Wordsmith. I have been producing all his major songs for the past 2 years. One of them being As the art fades away http://www.myspace.com/classicwordsmithmusic. We produced this about 1.5 year ago and it was performed throughout the country by Wordsmith and getting a lot of radio play..last friday there was a song released by Nas named Suriving the game http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.3238/title.nas-surviving-the-game#comments...
There has been a lot of discussion on a few sites as to where the song was copied or not.
I have been doing this for way too long to be all heated or sensitive about this but I wanted the Illmuzik Fam opinion.

The drums are different, sample is the same used in very similar way, the hook is the same, the subject of rhymes is very similar as well....
just wanted yall opinion, let me know whats good...
Peace
Strada


I havnt heard the joint yet (Nas ver) but I've heard and seen Wordsmith perform it quite a few time in Bmore, imma take a listen tonite when I get off of work
 

StraDivaRius

So determined....
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 94
Here is the statement that Wordsmith issued today, also check the link to websites that are covering the issue...

Wordsmith Issued Statement,

It has been brought to Wordsmith's attention that Nas released a track last Friday called "Surviving the Game/Times" that closely resembles his track, "As the Art Fades Away," Produced by Strada. Word is a huge Nas fan, so he is sad to see something like this is possible and he doesn't want to jump to conclusions either. Word debated over even speaking on this issue because he is not trying to build his career off of someone else's fame and he prides himself on that. Wordsmith had this to say:

I wrote my track "As the Art Fades Away" in 2006, as an unofficial version that I actually recently re-recorded for my debut album "The Next Level Experience" on Saturday, October 6th until I heard about this. My in house producer Strada made this beat a year ago and I am here to just state the facts and not attack Nas, so I just ask that everyone judges this fairly. No producer is going start a track the exact same way and no producer is going use the same sounds, loops, rhythms, etc. to create a track. My version starts off with a sample of my own voice saying "The pop rap charts make the art fade away" followed by "That's the whole tragic point my friend." Now, whoever produced Nas's version, and I heard its Chris Webber, which sounds rather odd to me, would not start there track off with the same sample unless they heard it somewhere else first. To me they strung the sample out from there, so it would sound different, but the piano, horn, and baseline are exactly the same way my producer laid his.

Two, my producer used "What Would I do" as the hook part of my song and I Chose to fill it in by saying Imagine if certain rappers never did what they did, how would the game be. Nas's version uses the same concept, but the producer uses a different section of the song where its says,"What Would I do," from the Wiz and just looped the hook. I have never officially released this track and it can only be heard on my myspace page. I put it out last year because I felt the game really needed it, but I like I said I have re-recorded it with no samples and a female singing on the hook, so it is radio ready to be dropped as my first official single on December 1st. I still filed it with ASCAP last year and anybody can look up my name at ascap.com to see I registered it last year along with the BDS. Furthermore, Nas has the same concept as me and I just want to say this again, no two rappers are going write about the same thing when they hear a beat and no two producers are going to produce a beat the same exact way. With that said, that's what makes music unique; the fact that any musician has the creative freedom to create something special from scratch, that's what keeps music fresh. I don't really know what else to say, but that I am disappointed in one of our greats, but at the same time, I do not know Nas or Chris Webber for that matter, so I can't really say what happened. I do know the Wiz movie has been out there since Nas and I were kids and millions of producers could of sampled it, but my Producer Strada had the idea first, so that tells me something, but until the facts come out I am just speculating.

Finally, please don't look at this as I am complaining because I am not, I just felt the need to speak on it because so many great people have come to my defense, so I would like to thank everyone out there for that and I even would like to think any haters as well because we all have a job to do. So what I have done is post links to both tracks below, pleasecheck them out and leave your comments. Thanks for everyone's time and lets not make this a bash session, but a good old fashioned challenge to Nas and the fans. Let us know who has the better track because my official version of "As the Art Fades Away" will drop on December 1st followed by the Video on MTV and BET.Yo Raps Magazine has posted a poll, so please go there and vote. ABC's Official Heat has posted the story as well, so keep chiming in with the comments, PEACE!!!

*Raptalk.net Story (Click)

*YO Raps Magazine Poll (Click)

*HHNLIVE.com Story (Click)

*HipHopHavoc.com Story (Click)

*ABC's Official Heat Story (Click)
 

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
funny how things work out .. this might be the best thing that ever happened to wordsmiths career ... hes being smart to by downplayin it and letting the music speak for itself ... getting jacked is never a completely negative thing if u keep a cool head and think it through u almost can always get something positive out of it or spin it into something that benefits you.
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
StraD....you guys gotta hit the ground running with the buzz that's going to be created from this! I'm talking a new website, album rapp'd up and ready to go. This is a window of opportunity that can close just as fast as it opens. One of the real good things I feel is that Nas ain't a Dipset type character or a Fif, who would come out and spin this shit back to you in a negative manner. I still say it's the producer i.e Chris Webber who's at fault for this whole jack move. I believe it was presented to Nas like Chris produced and wrote the song and he, being Nas, was like "tight track, great song concept" and roll'd with it. Chris is fucked if he was trying to make this a second career and rightly so! GOOD LUCK!
 

Krazyfingaz

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
yo that is no coincedence IMO this is a rip off. tho Nas is one of my fav emcees the Wordsmith ver is wayyyy better and this Nas ver is a rip off. No two mids think alike IMO
 
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