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Def Clef Accused Of Plagiarising Sarkodie’s ‘Trumpet’ Beat

Sarkodie - Trumpet ft. TeePhlow, Medikal, Strongman, Koo Ntakra, Donzy & Pappy Kojo (Official Video)

As far back as April this year (2016) , Sarkodie announced ‘Trumpet’ via  facebook & twitter

Sarkodie ft Pappy Kojo/ TeePhlow/ Strongman/ Medikal/ Koo Ntakra /Donzy And JoeyB – “TRUMPET” prod by Def clef …Yall wanna hear ??? ?. Real Hip hop made in GH ???? #TRUMPET
Wanna drop all em verses on one Track but damn !!! I might have to split … Lines are too hot ??? maybe StrongmanXkooNtakraXdonzy first
First verse I heard on my new record #Trumpet was from @DONZY_CHAKA and smh he killed that ish ????
Then next verse I heard was from @AmgMedikal God Damn ???#Bars I swear #Trumpet
I’m tempted to drop one siiiiick punch from @TeePhlowGH verse but imma hold it ???????????????? #Trumpet

 

8 months down the line , Sarkodie had the cypher ready and had shot a video for the cypher which was directed by one of Ghana’s finest , Prince Dovlo. A day prior to the release of the cypher , Sarkodie even labelled it the ” Biggest Cypher outta the motherland”.

The song (both audio and video) were released , and under 4 hours it had already taken over and was Trending on social media…however an unknown fact which had gone undetected by all parties who worked on the song for over 8 months would be exposed.

Def Clef , the producer of the song would be accused on plagiarising the instrumental . It seems he bought it exclusively or bought it on lease and placed his tag on it to make it look like his . Whichever way you look at it, long story short , it looked like he did not produce or make the instrumental.

He seemed to have ‘taken’ it from SuperStar O and simply placed his audio tag in it to make it look as if he produced it.  

SuperStar O – Dirty South Anthem Type Beat “My Destiny”

Sarkodie – Trumpet

The difference between Def Clef and SuperStar O’s instrumental is the producer tag. However , a quick look at SuperStar O’s beat store answers the question of how DefClef was able to get his tag on the instrumental. Regardless of which lease you buy , the instrumental comes Untagged. 

Def Clef Accused Of Plagiarising Sarkodie's 'Trumpet' Beat

“Exclusive Rights Sold Beats Are Removed From The Site. “

The instrumental in question ‘My Destiny’ has been removed from SuperStar O’s website . This also raises the question of if Def Clef had exclusively bought the instrumental.
 

 WHAT ARE LEASING RIGHTS?

According to www.soundclick.com  , Leasing rights allow you to use the beat (or song) for ONE commercial recording or broadcast. This recording can then be distributed at your price for up to 2,000 copies. Selling more than 2,000 copies means you must acquire a new lease or exclusive rights…. You must however give full credit to the seller (artist and/or producer name) on all commercial recordings. 

A closer look at the producer’s soundcloud seems to reveal another instance of a possible ‘Beat Jacking’

DefClef – Ready 4 Whatever WHook

Pablo Productions – Ready 4 Whatever WHook

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=936337&songID=12358284&showPlayer=true

Sarkodie Revenge Of The Spartans

TYSON feat. JUICE – 24/7 HUSTLE (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

 

Def Clef has deactivated his twitter account and protected his Instagram page following the revelation.

Def Clef Accused Of Plagiarising Sarkodie's 'Trumpet' Beat

Wikipedia defines Music plagiarism as

” The use or close imitation of another author’s music while representing it as one’s own original work. Plagiarism in music now occurs in two contexts—with a musical idea (that is, a melody or motif) or sampling (taking a portion of one sound recording and reusing it in a different song). For a legal history of the latter see sampling. “

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SuperStar O is well known beat seller who has worked with many major artists & labels such as Wiz Khalifa, Chris Brown, Ray Jay, Jim Jones, MTV, BET, MTV2, ESPN & many more.

Sources from Sarkodie’s camp as well as Ghanaian music producer , Fortune Dane , who worked on the song ,  have indicated that everyone , including Sarkodie was unaware of Def Clef’s “unprofessional” actions which could have some serious implications.

Assuming Def Clef has absolutely no right to the instrumental , it could mean that Sarkodie , is at risk of being sued by the owner of the instrumental and in effect , bar him from using ‘trumpet’ commercially.

Def Clef’s actions might also close doors on the chances of upcoming producers working with sarkodie.

UPDATE

 

Def Clef Accused Of Plagiarising Sarkodie’s ‘Trumpet’ Beat