Marvin Gaye
Tension is continuing to build between Robin Thicke and the Marvin Gaye Estate. Marvin Gaye III, the renowned singer’s eldest son, has decided to file his own copy infringement lawsuit against Thicke for the tracks “Blurred Lines” and “”Love After War”. This suit is the second counter-suit that the Gaye family has filed against the singer accusing Thicke of blatantly copying Marvin’s “Got to Give It Up” for the track “Blurred Lines” and Marvin’s “After The Dance” for the track “Love After War”.
The Estate argues that both of Thicke’s songs have strong similarities to the Gaye compositions in terms of choruses, melodies, grooves and lyrics. However, claims such as these are difficult to substantiate, as Thicke himself has even stated that Gaye has always been a major influence. It is reasonable to think that his new album was emulating the late singer’s sound out of homage, but there is, at times, a thin line between inspiration and plagiarism.
This case happens to bring to mind past accusations of popular Caucasian artists emulating, and sometimes even blatantly stealing from popular Black artists of the time, i.e. Elvis Presley.
Although this may not be the case, it is still a relevant issue as there are more and more artists attempting to emulate musical styles that have historically been dominated by Afrikan Americans.
Above is the video for Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up” and link below is to Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”:
Watch them and see for yourself if you can point out the similarities, and then state your opinion in the comments.
Robin Thicke/ Source: Official Robin Thicke Website
Author: Rasheed Tulay
Nommo Staff