UK label Anjunabeats has issued a statement regarding their assertion that Will.i.am’s track “Let’s Go” featuring Chris Brown sampled Arty and Mat Zo’s “Rebound” collaboration without proper permission. The label issued the statement today to counter an interview Will.i.am gave to the Associated Press where he said, “You can’t steal if you credited somebody. He and I communicated. … It’s not my fault he didn’t tell me about the other guy. So who is to blame? I didn’t know.” The label didn’t mention if they were in the process of seeking financial relief over the matter. Here is Anjunabeats’ statement in its entirety:
Anjunabeats is the record label behind Arty and Mat Zo and owns the master recording rights to their collaboration “Rebound.” Mat Zo and Arty have been important members of the Anjunabeats family for a number of years and “Rebound” was one of the label’s most popular releases in 2011.
As has been widely reported, a large section of “Rebound” was sampled on Will.i.am’s track “Let’s Go featuring Chris Brown” and this took place without the permission of Anjunabeats or Arty & Mat Zo.
Although Arty (but not Mat Zo) was credited in the sleeve notes, this is not the same as obtaining permission. To present someone else’s work as your own, you need to seek permission, agree terms and file paperwork, which has not happened in this case.
We’ve remained silent on this issue until now but as a record label it is our obligation to protect our artists’ interests and we felt it was necessary to respond to some of the inaccuracies that have been reported following Will.i.am’s recent comments to Associated Press.