Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" Breaks R&B/Hip-Hop Record

Single breaks another record on the Billboard charts.

By Latifah Muhammad

Posted: 09/26/2013 10:03 AM EDT

A 16th week at No. 1 marks a new milestone for "Blurred Lines." Robin Thicke's single, featuring T.I. andPharrell Williams, holds the record for the longest reign atop Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart since Nielsen began collecting the data in 1992.

The summer smash passed Mary J. Blige's 15-week run for "Be Without You."

Released in March, "Blurred Lines" debuted at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 and worked its way to first place, where it stayed for 12 weeks. It also topped the charts in over a dozen countries, shattered Interscope's radio ariplay records, reaching 242.65 million listeners, and sold over 5 million digital downloads worldwide.

Making history has come at a price, though. Thicke's been fending off accusations that the song's racy lyrics promote rape, and in August filed a preemptive suit against the family of Marvin Gaye to ward off assertions that "Blurred Lines" is a ripoff of the soul singer's "Got to Give It Up" and the Funkadelics' "Sexy Ways."

Thicke denies the copyright infringement claim, but reportedly offered the Gaye family a six-figure settlement to keep it out of court.

Congrats to Ti(who just had a B-Day the same day as Mr. Smith this week)Robin & Pharrel(who just made a guest appearance on the beautiful Queen Latifah Show)......

The difference is that your song is just a major triad “G-B-D over G” and Gaye’s tune is in Dominant Major which means he flatted the 7th degree of the scale (G-C#-E over A), which would explain why y’all’s song sounds like Oktoberfest and Marvin’s song sounds like the Blues.

OK, so I totally disagree with his rant about hip-hop, but otherwise that whole thing is beyond priceless. Pharrell made himself look like a damn fool with that interview. And seriously, I will pay good money for nobody to ever make another fool-ass comment about keys like having your song in a different key is automatically protection against copyright infringement. ANYBODY with any reasonable knowledge of piano can change a song's key just as easily as they can breathe. I was NOT a particularly gifted musician, and haven't played in years, but to this day I could sit down at a piano and make my arthritic old hands change keys til the sun comes up. If we use changing keys as protection against copyright infringement, musical copyright might as well not exist.

_

Pharrell's comment about sheet music was also beyond ignorant. I have the sheet music for Janet Jackson's "If," and it doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to determine that the damn song is barely recognizable if you go on the sheet music alone -- it certainly doesn't include any reproduction of the samples that were used in the song. Unless Debussy and Chopin have been showing up on the pop charts and I missed it, most of today's pop music can NOT be accurately represented via sheet music alone, not even close. I respect Pharrell as a producer, but my opinion of him is going down by the day lately.

Stevie Wonder Says Robin Thicke’s "Blurred Lines" Is No Marvin Gaye Copy

23 September 2013

Stevie Wonder Says Robin ... Gaye Copy

Stevie Wonder has weighed in on the legal battle involving the family of his fellow Motown legend Marvin Gaye and contemporary pop star Robin Thicke over alleged similarities between Thicke’s smash hit “Blurred Lines” and the late Gaye’s 1977 tune “Got to Give It Up.”

Speaking with TMZ in a recent video interview, Wonder declares that he doesn’t think “Blurred Lines” is “a steal from Marvin Gaye.”

Noting that he’s been through his own lawsuits over songs, the renowned singer/songwriter says that although he thinks the groove of Thicke’s tune “is very similar, [Robin is] a big fan of Marvin Gaye’s, so that’s OK.”

Lastly, Wonder has a message for Marvin’s family with regard to proceeding with a copyright infringement lawsuit against Thicke.

“Don’t let your lawyer get you into losing money on something that’s not worth it,” maintains Stevie.

Last month, Thicke and the two co-writers of “Blurred Lines” filed a preemptive lawsuit against Gaye’s family and the Bridgeport Music publishing company claiming that their song was created “without copying anyone else’s composition.” Billboard reported that the suit was initiated after Gaye’s estate rejected a six-figure settlement that Thicke and his collaborators offered following accusations by the family that Thicke had copied Marvin’s tune.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Arbwyth said:

SoulAlive said:

Stevie Wonder Says Robin Thicke’s "Blurred Lines" Is No Marvin Gaye Copy

23 September 2013

Stevie Wonder Says Robin ... Gaye Copy

Stevie Wonder has weighed in on the legal battle involving the family of his fellow Motown legend Marvin Gaye and contemporary pop star Robin Thicke over alleged similarities between Thicke’s smash hit “Blurred Lines” and the late Gaye’s 1977 tune “Got to Give It Up.”

Speaking with TMZ in a recent video interview, Wonder declares that he doesn’t think “Blurred Lines” is “a steal from Marvin Gaye.”

Noting that he’s been through his own lawsuits over songs, the renowned singer/songwriter says that although he thinks the groove of Thicke’s tune “is very similar, [Robin is] a big fan of Marvin Gaye’s, so that’s OK.”

Lastly, Wonder has a message for Marvin’s family with regard to proceeding with a copyright infringement lawsuit against Thicke.

“Don’t let your lawyer get you into losing money on something that’s not worth it,” maintains Stevie.

Last month, Thicke and the two co-writers of “Blurred Lines” filed a preemptive lawsuit against Gaye’s family and the Bridgeport Music publishing company claiming that their song was created “without copying anyone else’s composition.” Billboard reported that the suit was initiated after Gaye’s estate rejected a six-figure settlement that Thicke and his collaborators offered following accusations by the family that Thicke had copied Marvin’s tune.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

I'm so confused??? I thought the argument by Thicke's camp (and apparently others, too) is that the BL isn't a copy of GTGIU. Why offer a settlement?

mimi02 said:

SoulAlive said:

Stevie Wonder Says Robin Thicke’s "Blurred Lines" Is No Marvin Gaye Copy

23 September 2013

Stevie Wonder Says Robin ... Gaye Copy

Stevie Wonder has weighed in on the legal battle involving the family of his fellow Motown legend Marvin Gaye and contemporary pop star Robin Thicke over alleged similarities between Thicke’s smash hit “Blurred Lines” and the late Gaye’s 1977 tune “Got to Give It Up.”

Speaking with TMZ in a recent video interview, Wonder declares that he doesn’t think “Blurred Lines” is “a steal from Marvin Gaye.”

Noting that he’s been through his own lawsuits over songs, the renowned singer/songwriter says that although he thinks the groove of Thicke’s tune “is very similar, [Robin is] a big fan of Marvin Gaye’s, so that’s OK.”

Lastly, Wonder has a message for Marvin’s family with regard to proceeding with a copyright infringement lawsuit against Thicke.

“Don’t let your lawyer get you into losing money on something that’s not worth it,” maintains Stevie.

Last month, Thicke and the two co-writers of “Blurred Lines” filed a preemptive lawsuit against Gaye’s family and the Bridgeport Music publishing company claiming that their song was created “without copying anyone else’s composition.” Billboard reported that the suit was initiated after Gaye’s estate rejected a six-figure settlement that Thicke and his collaborators offered following accusations by the family that Thicke had copied Marvin’s tune.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

I'm so confused??? I thought the argument by Thicke's camp (and apparently others, too) is that the BL isn't a copy of GTGIU. Why offer a settlement?

Maybe a polite gesture of acknowledgement, that GTGIU was a big inspiration to BL, knowing that they've done nothing legally wrong?

Who knows...

Apparently, Marvin wasn't in Thicke's head when he did BL according to Thicke himself:

http://www.tmz.com/2013/0...vie-wonder

Good, Robin. Keep on putting your damn foot in your mouth.

Timmy84 said:

nd33 said:

Timmy84 said:

Apparently, Marvin wasn't in Thicke's head when he did BL according to Thicke himself:

http://www.tmz.com/2013/0...vie-wonder

Good, Robin. Keep on putting your damn foot in your mouth.

Similar to how Janelle Monae said that she hadn't really seen James Brown dance after coming out with JB's hair style and cape routine while singing "one more time for the tight rope"

That's why I always roll my eyes at these guys. The more they try to act like they're all 100% original, the more phony they come across.

nd33 said:

Timmy84 said:

Apparently, Marvin wasn't in Thicke's head when he did BL according to Thicke himself:

http://www.tmz.com/2013/0...vie-wonder

Good, Robin. Keep on putting your damn foot in your mouth.

Similar to how Janelle Monae said that she hadn't really seen James Brown dance after coming out with JB's hair style and cape routine while singing "one more time for the tight rope"

The hairstyle alone actually came from Little Richard.

TonyVanDam said:

nd33 said:

Similar to how Janelle Monae said that she hadn't really seen James Brown dance after coming out with JB's hair style and cape routine while singing "one more time for the tight rope"

The hairstyle alone actually came from Little Richard.

Who copped it from Georgian singer Billy Wright.

TonyVanDam said:

nd33 said:

Similar to how Janelle Monae said that she hadn't really seen James Brown dance after coming out with JB's hair style and cape routine while singing "one more time for the tight rope"

The hairstyle alone actually came from Little Richard.

C'mon, her whole act for Tightrope era is not so veiled James Brown...

[Edited 9/30/13 21:03pm]

Timmy84 said:

TonyVanDam said:

The hairstyle alone actually came from Little Richard.

Who copped it from Georgian singer Billy Wright.

Him too!

[Edited 9/30/13 21:08pm]

mjscarousal said:

Very disappointed in Robin. This man is really suing the Marvin Gaye family

He should be kissing the ground they walk on and respectfully giving them the credit since it was obviously sampled or inspired by Got To Give It Up.

I dont know what to think. Robin is cool I guess but these artists out now have no respect for the legendary artists This move by Thicke is straight up tacky... Im actually quite shocked.

I agree, he as a young artist has way to much pride and gall to get up and decide he's about to sue Marvin Gaye' family for sampling the man's song and not giving credit. I liked the song at first, but I thought about it and it actually started to creep me out with the "I know you want it" rape-y crap and T.I.'s tired rapping about "I'ma tear your ass in two." Disgusting. These newer artists act as though they can replace these legends because they are popular now and to them popular means talented and innovative. Robin Thicke can sing, but he's not all that great.

ALL I CAN SAY ON THIS MATTER IS THAT I HATE THIS SONG WITH EVERY ATOM OF MY BEING

I love Stevie but he can GTFOHWTBS. Blurred Lines is the most obvious, derivative song in the past 5 years or so and anyone claiming otherwise is either deaf or has an agenda. Stevie fails to see what's going on here. This is a mass campaign of opinion manipulation.

Now whether or not money should be passed is up to the courts but Robin has all but said Marvin stole the song from him. This guy's ego is raging and to deny the song's influence AFTER CITING IT AS AN INFLUENCE BEFORE THE HOOPLA, really makes him look foolish.

Fools like him and Timberlake completely disgust me. I never liked Pharrell's little beaty-eyed ass either. I wouln'd support any of them with one dime.

BlaqueKnight said:

I love Stevie but he can GTFOHWTBS. Blurred Lines is the most obvious, derivative song in the past 5 years or so and anyone claiming otherwise is either deaf or has an agenda. Stevie fails to see what's going on here. This is a mass campaign of opinion manipulation.

Now whether or not money should be passed is up to the courts but Robin has all but said Marvin stole the song from him. This guy's ego is raging and to deny the song's influence AFTER CITING IT AS AN INFLUENCE BEFORE THE HOOPLA, really makes him look foolish.

Fools like him and Timberlake completely disgust me. I never liked Pharrell's little beaty-eyed ass either. I wouln'd support any of them with one dime.

His Vanilla Ice ass think he's slick too. Stevie lost a LOT of points saying what he said.

BlaqueKnight said:

I love Stevie but he can GTFOHWTBS. Blurred Lines is the most obvious, derivative song in the past 5 years or so and anyone claiming otherwise is either deaf or has an agenda. Stevie fails to see what's going on here. This is a mass campaign of opinion manipulation.

Now whether or not money should be passed is up to the courts but Robin has all but said Marvin stole the song from him. This guy's ego is raging and to deny the song's influence AFTER CITING IT AS AN INFLUENCE BEFORE THE HOOPLA, really makes him look foolish.

Fools like him and Timberlake completely disgust me. I never liked Pharrell's little beaty-eyed ass either. I wouln'd support any of them with one dime.

no pun intended right?

This thread...

BlaqueKnight said:

I love Stevie but he can GTFOHWTBS. Blurred Lines is the most obvious, derivative song in the past 5 years or so and anyone claiming otherwise is either deaf or has an agenda. Stevie fails to see what's going on here. This is a mass campaign of opinion manipulation.

Now whether or not money should be passed is up to the courts but Robin has all but said Marvin stole the song from him. This guy's ego is raging and to deny the song's influence AFTER CITING IT AS AN INFLUENCE BEFORE THE HOOPLA, really makes him look foolish.

Fools like him and Timberlake completely disgust me. I never liked Pharrell's little beaty-eyed ass either. I wouln'd support any of them with one dime.

Put your tinfoil hat back on and pipe down. It's obvious you (and a lot of folks in here) can't tell the difference between songwriting and production. The song itself is nothing like the Gaye song. The parts that DO sound like it are production choices, i.e. things that can't be copywritten, the the groove (which is the ONLY way the song resembles the Marvin Gaye track, except maybe the Rhodes sound.) GaryMF spelled it out:

GaryMF said:

No one seemed to comment on my post a little ways up... but I just learned both songs for my band....

Like I said, when I first heard Blurred Lines I thought "Wow kind of a rip off of GTGIU".... but I listened to them and also looked up the music to confirm what I thought I heard.......

and the SONGS ARE NOT THE SAME.

Different bass lines.

Different melodies

Different chords and chord progressions (Robin's is 2 chords: G(I)and D(V), Marvin's is 4 in more of a blues pattern in A: A (I), D(IV), E (IV) with a B thrown in)

Different lyrics.

So, as much as I thought it was a rip off at first, it really is all about the feel and the rhythm, and acutally a lot of songs have that rhythm.

So...... there really is no case here.

But you'd rather trust your own faulty ears that don't know how to listen objectively to a song. Sounds like all you're hearing is the beat and nothing else because if you were listening to everything you'd hear that they're really nothing alike.

I'm sure that if Thicke were black and/or less successful, you'd say he was "paying tribute" rather than "ripping off." If you ask me, it was charitable of him to offer the Gaye famiy some money for a song that really has nothing in common with Marvin's other than a groove that has been played on many songs over the years. And as has been said several times in this thread, YOU CAN'T COPYWRITE A GROOVE.

>

[Edited 10/4/13 13:09pm]

>

EDIT: Why doesn't this thing let me space things out more?

[Edited 10/4/13 13:14pm]

[Edited 10/4/13 13:16pm]

guitarslinger44 said:

This thread...

BlaqueKnight said:

I love Stevie but he can GTFOHWTBS. Blurred Lines is the most obvious, derivative song in the past 5 years or so and anyone claiming otherwise is either deaf or has an agenda. Stevie fails to see what's going on here. This is a mass campaign of opinion manipulation.

Now whether or not money should be passed is up to the courts but Robin has all but said Marvin stole the song from him. This guy's ego is raging and to deny the song's influence AFTER CITING IT AS AN INFLUENCE BEFORE THE HOOPLA, really makes him look foolish.

Fools like him and Timberlake completely disgust me. I never liked Pharrell's little beaty-eyed ass either. I wouln'd support any of them with one dime.

Put your tinfoil hat back on and pipe down. It's obvious you (and a lot of folks in here) can't tell the difference between songwriting and production. The song itself is nothing like the Gaye song. The parts that DO sound like it are production choices, i.e. things that can't be copywritten, the the groove (which is the ONLY way the song resembles the Marvin Gaye track, except maybe the Rhodes sound.) GaryMF spelled it out:

GaryMF said:

No one seemed to comment on my post a little ways up... but I just learned both songs for my band....

Like I said, when I first heard Blurred Lines I thought "Wow kind of a rip off of GTGIU".... but I listened to them and also looked up the music to confirm what I thought I heard.......

and the SONGS ARE NOT THE SAME.

Different bass lines.

Different melodies

Different chords and chord progressions (Robin's is 2 chords: G(I)and D(V), Marvin's is 4 in more of a blues pattern in A: A (I), D(IV), E (IV) with a B thrown in)

Different lyrics.

So, as much as I thought it was a rip off at first, it really is all about the feel and the rhythm, and acutally a lot of songs have that rhythm.

So...... there really is no case here.

But you'd rather trust your own faulty ears that don't know how to listen objectively to a song. Sounds like all you're hearing is the beat and nothing else because if you were listening to everything you'd hear that they're really nothing alike.

>

>

I'm sure that if Thicke were black and/or less successful, you'd say he was "paying tribute" rather than "ripping off." If you ask me, it was charitable of him to offer the Gaye famiy some money for a song that really has nothing in common with Marvin's other than a groove that has been played on many songs over the years. And as has been said several times in this thread, YOU CAN'T COPYWRITE A GROOVE.

>

[Edited 10/4/13 13:09pm]

>

EDIT: Why doesn't this thing let me space things out more?

[Edited 10/4/13 13:14pm]

[Edited 10/4/13 13:16pm]

If they were nothing alike, this whole "controversy" would be non-existent.

Its not just "my own faulty ears" as you say.

Your weak ass attempt to try to reduce this to my personal opinion just shows how little of a case and point you have. Skipping over the fact that I already mentioned that ROBIN HIMSELF SAID THE SONG INFLUENCED THEM is also lame of you. All the words you print on a message board can't contradict what people hear. He and Pharrell tried to pull a fast one and ride on the coattails of a classic song and got called on it. Now they are in full denial mode.

None of your silly little pointless personal attacks on me will change that.

I gave Robin props when he dropped Lost Without You and I shat on him when he did Wanna Love You Girl because it was a lazy, shitty song. I used to have a little more respect for him than I did for Timberfake but he is showing that he is of the exact same ilk - a priviledged rich kid who is cool until the pressure is on, then he shows his true colors. Aldo, I have not ignored Pharrell's role in this fiasco, either. He is equally to blame for trying to get a hit off of an already famous record. If this were a Prince song, the org would have already burned Robin Thicke by now.

Also, your personal assessment of me is so far off, you can't believe. For years, I have shat on rappers that have done this. Diddy did this. You want to defer it to race-baiting but I have always given props when they are due. Where were you when I was posting Hiatus Kaiotye or Joss Stone's latest song? Nowhere to be found.

Blaquenight:

I at first felt like you did as I wrote earlier. Thought BL was a bullshit song and a rip-off.

But when I learned to play them I was forced to realize they are not the same songs in terms of chord structure, melody, bass line or lyrics.

I'm curious as to your (and other people's)reaction to that. Not all the emotional stuff, just the musical components in question. Because musically they only share a "feel" which can't be copyrighted in the US.

I still agree that for RT or PHarell to now say they were not influenced by Marvin Gaye is BS since they originally said they were (though I'm not sure where they denied it).

I also think Pharell is an idiot who in his "defense" didnt even know the difference between a minor chord and a dominant 7th chord, but that besides the case.

My personal bottom line is I lost a lof respect for RT for various reasons with this song (including the VMA performance) but musically the song is not copyright infringement. It might be a piece of shit but it's not copyright infringement.

While w'r ont h subjuct of copyright infirngement, can someone tell me how/why Jimmy and Terry didn't sue about this song????

I mean even when they go to the bridge it's a total copy of Janet! @2:07 I half-expect him to scream "Jimmy Jam!" instead of "Pick it up!"

.

GaryMF said:

but musically the song is not copyright infringement. It might be a piece of shit but it's not copyright infringement.

I totally agree. Though this song does beg the question: Do we need to reconsider what parts of music can be copyrighted? As it is, I could make a song with the exact sound and chord changes as Smells Like Teen Spirit, as long as it had a different melody & lyrics, and it would be perfectly legal. But it wouldn't really be right.

And I really don't see where the song is a ripoff of Sexy Ways Maybe I need to listen again.

NDRU said:

And I really don't see where the song is a ripoff of Sexy Ways Maybe I need to listen again.

The Funkadelic claim is stupid. And it's Armen Boladian's company that was threatening a suit, not George Clinton himself since he's fighting with Boladian over his copyright at the present moment.

NDRU said:

I totally agree. Though this song does beg the question: Do we need to reconsider what parts of music can be copyrighted? As it is, I could make a song with the exact sound and chord changes as Smells Like Teen Spirit, as long as it had a different melody & lyrics, and it would be perfectly legal. But it wouldn't really be right.

Copyrighting a chord progression would be supremely ludicrous.

For instance, despite the chord similarities making this matchup relatively easy, would you argue these songs aren't sufficiently "original"?

I'm amused this thread is still kicking. At this point, just about every viewpoint has been rehashed multiple times...

BlaqueKnight said:

If they were nothing alike, this whole "controversy" would be non-existent.

Its not just "my own faulty ears" as you say.

Your weak ass attempt to try to reduce this to my personal opinion just shows how little of a case and point you have. Skipping over the fact that I already mentioned that ROBIN HIMSELF SAID THE SONG INFLUENCED THEM is also lame of you. All the words you print on a message board can't contradict what people hear. He and Pharrell tried to pull a fast one and ride on the coattails of a classic song and got called on it. Now they are in full denial mode.

None of your silly little pointless personal attacks on me will change that.

I gave Robin props when he dropped Lost Without You and I shat on him when he did Wanna Love You Girl because it was a lazy, shitty song. I used to have a little more respect for him than I did for Timberfake but he is showing that he is of the exact same ilk - a priviledged rich kid who is cool until the pressure is on, then he shows his true colors. Aldo, I have not ignored Pharrell's role in this fiasco, either. He is equally to blame for trying to get a hit off of an already famous record. If this were a Prince song, the org would have already burned Robin Thicke by now.

Also, your personal assessment of me is so far off, you can't believe. For years, I have shat on rappers that have done this. Diddy did this. You want to defer it to race-baiting but I have always given props when they are due. Where were you when I was posting Hiatus Kaiotye or Joss Stone's latest song? Nowhere to be found.

Sure he said the song influenced him, no one's disputing that. But when you try to say in so many words that he stole Marvin's song and tried to pass it off as his own, you're being disingenuous. Especially when GaryMF broke it down for you in an intelligent and musical way as to how the two songs are completely different in terms of the writing, and someone else posted a blurb from a musicologist. After all that, you still wanna plug your ears and go "na na na, my opinion's the only thing that matters."

>

>

I've been on the Org a LOOOOOONG time if you want to check my join date that badly. I've seen you in action. You brought the race issue into this thread with one of your first posts. You can go ahead and try to conveniently forget about that, but you brought that to the table, which is why I'm talking about it.

TBH, I think both sides are really playing a fucking media game with this. I doubt Marvin would've gave a fuck what Robin was doing. Time for this story (and this thread) to die, really.

Timmy84 said:

TBH, I think both sides are really playing a fucking media game with this. I doubt Marvin would've gave a fuck what Robin was doing. Time for this story (and this thread) to die, really.

I wondered about this actually, but I imagine that if that were the case, maybe the Gaye family would have taken the money. Maybe not though. I agree though that Marvin probably wouldn't have cared.