The Truth About Music

"What's hot, what's not, and whats next in pop music"

Topic: TAM Police

Truth About Music Police: Did Nelly Really Do That?

By Harris posted September 13, 2010 at 08:00

Over the years I’ve bee a huge supporter of Nelly. From my days in middle school jamming to “Country Grammar” to his huge singles, I’ve always liked his style. One thing I don’t appreciate is talent ripping off greater talent. Before he was the potential president of Haiti, Wycleff Jean was one of the best producers and singers in hip/hop. His largest single during his career was “Sweetest Girl” which featured Niia, Lil Wayne and Akon. Over the weekend a friend played “Just A Dream,” a new single by Nelly. Suddenly, I felt the urge to sing the chorus to Jean’s song during the chorus. Turns out that after a slight lyrical change, these songs carry the exact same melody. It’s a melody that worked for Jean in 2007 so Nelly and company decided to try it again. Unfortunately, you’ve been caught by the TAM police. Please retract your single and [...] Continue...
The Truth About Music Police

By Harris posted February 12, 2009 at 00:48

Funny when you come across a song that you love, and then find out that another band wrote the riff over five years earlier. Spurred on by a comment about Nimrod being a favorite album of some, I listened to it. Hitting the song “All the Time,” I thought I had heard that riff and chord progression before. Turns out that a newer band, by the name of Readymade Breakup uses the exact same riff and chord progression in their single, “Back to the Bubble.” Although I like both of these songs quite a lot, it is interesting how blatant the riff is in both songs. Everything from the timing, to the tuning, to the distortion is the same. Someone give these two songs a listen to confirm my findings. To be clear, the song was written by Green Day in 1996, where as Readymade Breakup did not release there [...] Continue...