WILL.I.AM CAUGHT STEALING AS INTERSCOPE A&R

by Jacky Jasper

HSK EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Take a Listen to this exclusive Jacky Jasper interview with one of the alleged victims of copyright infringement, at the hand of the Black Eyed Peas…

Phoenix Phenom: “It’s My Responsibility to Take a Stand for Independent Artists”

Chicago-based recording artist, Phoenix Phenom, has sadly fallen victim to the Black Eyed Peas’ alleged production scam — a scam that’s quickly becoming known as the Grammy Award winning group’s notorious game of stealing material.

Now, Phoenix Phenom is speaking out after formally filing a lawsuit against the Black Eyed Peas, citing copyright infringement.

“Boom Dynamite”, a track written and composed by independent recording artist, Phoenix Phenom, and her producer, Manny Mohr, remains at the center of the case. “Boom Dynamite” was released back in 2008 — one year before the Black Eyed Peas’ strikingly similar “Boom Boom Pow” hit record stores (that’s 365 days before Fergie claimed people are trying to “copy her swagger”). Now, members from the Black Eyed Peas are pointing to their “ghostwriter” DJ Poet as helping them produce the track that many are saying is a carbon copy of Phoenix Phenom’s work.

In a recent interview with Jacky Jasper, Phoenix Phenom said it’s now her “responsibility to take a stand for independent artists out there.” During the conversation, Phoenix Phenom’s attorney, Ira Gould, said “there are substantial and great similarities that cannot be explained in any other way than the song was copied” and that “the fingerprint of her (Phoenix Phenom’s) song is directly embedded in their (the Black Eyed Peas’) song.”

Compare the two songs below for yourself:

Phoenix Phenom’s “Boom Dynamite”

Black Eyes Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow”

The Black Eyed Peas are no strangers to lawsuits. Back in 2009, Adam Freeland sued the group for copyright infringement. During that case, the Black Eyed Peas’ track “Party All the Time” was reported to be copied from Freeland’s song “Man Cry”. This before Will I Am claimed “clearance was not done and that was what it was about.” A settlement has since been made between the parties involved.

There’s also another lawsuit pending involving Fergie’s “Voodoo Doll” track. In that case, “Voodoo Doll” is said to be copied from a song by group Groundation, titled “Waterfall”.

Groundation’s “Waterfall”

Fergie “Voodoo Doll”

I think beyond a reasonable doubt that the term “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” definitely applies here. It just may be that while Will I Am was working as head of A & R for Interscope Records, he was collecting material to steal!