UPDATE 10/21/19 3:15 P.M. PST: Truth Hurts took a DNA test, turns out it may not be 100% Lizzo’s.
That’s the claim being made by producer Justin Raisen, who reached out to PerezHilton.com exclusively with a copy of the musicology report from Donato Music Services.
It found Truth “clearly contains lyrics and musical material contained in the song Healthy.”
“The most striking similarities between these works include the use of essentially the same lyric phrase “I just did (took) a D-N-A test turns out I’m a hundred percent that bitch” (labeled phrase 1). Also note that both begin the next lyric phrase with “even when I’m.””
They included the following musical comparison:
The report concluded:
“The duplication of these distinctive elements in Truth makes it difficult to argue that these similarities are the result of coincidence or that Truth was independently created and did not copy these elements from Healthy.
After considering all of these similarities it is readily apparent that Truth contains some strikingly similar lyric and musical elements to those in Healthy. Therefore one may conclude that Truth Hurts would not exist in its present form without the existence of and the borrowing from Healthy.”
Additionally, Justin gave a more detailed explanation of how (he says) his hook got stolen.
He explains:
“The misconception is as songwriters we come together to write songs for a reason, for what the end result will be. That song becomes a composition that the people scheduled for the session purposefully all share in. You don’t take parts of it and put it on other songs.
Most people if they have an idea from another room that might work in a song you’re currently writing will give a heads up… that ‘hey this might work in this song but it came from another session so if we want to use it we’ll have credit the people I wrote that song with… so its up to you…’ etc.”
He continues by blaming not Lizzo personally but those around her:
“It’s songwriting etiquette and unwritten laws within our small community. People don’t do business this way. And I blame it on her team. Not Lizzo. It wasn’t handled with integrity on her team’s behalf and it’s a shame that their representation of her is bleeding into her persona as I believe they are separate entities. So I actually feel bad, but at the same point in time have to stand up for what’s right for the people who have become before me and those who will come after.”
Inneresting!
Do YOU think mismanagement could have kept the klepto where Lizzo didn’t even notice it??
The alleged truth about Truth Hurts continues to haunt Lizzo!
On Tuesday, two music producers accused the singer of plagiarism for the Billboard No. 1 song, claiming they wrote THAT iconic lyric with Liz in April 2017 for a song called Healthy using the same melody and chords.
The claim was made by producer Justin Raisen, who spoke out on Instagram on behalf of himself and his brother Jeremiah Raisen. In his post, he requested partial credit for the lyric “I just took a DNA test turns I’m 100% that bitch” — which was evidently used in the song Healthy.
To back up his claim, Raisen shared a clip in the post titled, “The Truth about ‘Truth Hurts,'” which shows Lizzo and Raisen working in the studio together as audio plays of the 31-year-old singing the exact same hook as the chart-topping single, but in a higher pitch and without the piano in the background.
Related: Lizzo Almost Quit Music After Releasing ‘Truth Hurts’ Due To Depression
He explained in the caption:
“On April 11th, 2017, we wrote a song called ‘Healthy’ w/Lizzo, Jesse St. John and Yves Rothman at our studio… ‘I just took a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch,’ was taken from ‘Healthy’ and used in ‘Truth Hurts.’ We were never contacted about being credited for the use of the parts of ‘Healthy’ (melody, lyrics, and chords) that appear in ‘Truth Hurts.’”
Raisen went on to claim he and his brother tried to handle the issue “quietly for the last two years, only asking for 5% each but were shut down every time,” adding:
“Coming forward publicly to family, friends, artists, and colleagues seems to be the only way at this point in relieving some of our emotional distress caused by this.”
And although the pair are demanding partial compensation, he insisted:
“The last thing we want to do is throw any negativity toward Lizzo’s momentum and movement as a cultural figure. If we believe in what she’s preaching, believing in ourselves & our own voices is something we thought she’d understand.”
Using the 31-year-old’s Lizzosophy against her! That must hurt!
The producer also gave credit to the other singer who already accused Liz of swiping that same lyric from her, Mina Lioness. As we reported, the artist accused the Juice singer of plagiarism earlier this year, revealing she tweeted “I just did a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch” in February 2017, months before Lizzo dropped the track in September 2017.
Raisen wrote:
“A meme of that came up in our writing session & inspired the lyric and melody we wrote together. If Ricky and Lizzo’s team decide to settle this dispute with us, we would like to share some of the proceeds with Mina for her influence on ‘Healthy.'”
Raisen concluded the post writing, “All the Love.” Take a listen to a snippet of the two songs (below):
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3oRS_0liE_/?utm_source=ig_embed
Lizzo hasn’t publicly responded to the allegations, but her attorney Cynthia S. Arato has since refuted them to The New York Times, saying in a statement:
“The Raisens are not writers of Truth Hurts. They did not collaborate with Lizzo or anyone else to create this song, and they did not help write any of the material that they now seek profit from, which is why they expressly renounced any claim to the work, in writing, months ago.”
Hmmm. We’ll see if Lizzo comments on this drama. If she does, we think it’ll be similar to her response to the backlash over Mina’s plagiarism claim.
When a fan on Twitter accused her of being a “thief” for swiping Mina’s lyric, she replied:
“I’ve never seen this before in my life. That’s crazy… But u know, there’s 10 BILLION ppl on the planet. The odds of multiple people having the same idea are VERY high. The odds of multiple ppl putting it in song w/ millions of streams are low. Nothing new under the sun.”
Do U think Lizzo should compensate these producers?
[Image via YouTube]
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