it's been about a week since religious mogul, Bishop T.D. Jakes, announced that he was suing rappers Jeezy and Kendrick Lamar for the use of his intellectual property without consent on the "Holy Ghost Remix". I let the story simmer so long because I wanted to see if Jeezy would come out with a statement. Not to my surprise, Jeezy has not released even a tweet about the matter. And while not a peep has been spoken, links that lead to the track on Soundcloud no longer work. But, let me back up. Jeezy released his latest album, "Seen It All," on September 2. A track, called "Holy Ghost Remix," features nearly 30 seconds of T.D. Jakes' voice taken from a sermon preached last year in February. The sampled sermon is called "Don't Let the Chatter Stop You." Jakes was unaware of the rappers' usage of his sermon and took to Facebook to let that be known. The rappers' choice to blatantly, and quite cleverly, use Jakes' voice is disgusting. No artist should be able to misconstrue and misuse a person's work for the sake of "lyrical genius." "The Holy Ghost remix" is an obvious attack on Christian faith. Not only did Jeezy and Lamar finesse the part of the sermon sampled to conveniently remove all religious attributes, but they also named the track. Holy Ghost. Even the single cover is offensive, baring a cross. It is distasteful that the artists' not only used Jakes' sermon and likeness, but that they also have a chance to get away with it. Multiple blogs have cited Attorney Jonathan Kirsch, in a quote published by Daily News, suggesting that the sample could be considered as fair use under a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 1994 which ruled in favor of the 2 Live Crew's use of Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman." Whether Jakes wins or not, I must say that his suit has brought a larger issue to light. How far is too far? Many Hip Hop artists have hopped on the trend of making religious references in their songs. From Hov to Yeezus to Meek Mill's "Church" the trend has progressively gotten worse. I believe that Jeezy is the straw that has finally broke the camel's back. And, rightly so! Jakes should take a stand for his brand and for his religion and say enough is enough. Creativity should not massacre beliefs. Music should not trivialize anyone's god. I mean really?! This fool used a whole snippet. Honestly, if I was in Jeezy's camp, I'd stand far from him. It's just a matter of time before he's struck by lightening. Check out the song below and let me know what you think. Is it ok that Jeezy plagiarized the Lort?
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ATS MagAgainst the Stream Magazine is an urban platform. We edify our readers by finding noble, pure, and true talent and giving it a stage to flourish. While we love bragging about the folks around us, we also tackle urban issues by giving real world solutions. Archives
September 2015
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