Geggy Tah Say Clipse Ripped Them Off

July 16, 2009

Geggy Tah Say Clipse Ripped Them Off • Reader David e-mails, "TMZ claims no one remembers Geggy Tah. I remember GT and so does David Byrne." The '90s alt-rockers say Clipse's Pharrell-produced "All I Wanna Do (Feel Like Me)" copies their "Whoever You Are." Compare. (Last TMZ link today, promise.)

Posted at 2:41 PM
Tags: Clipse | Geggy Tah | Pharrell

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13 Comments

Total ripoff.

Posted by: John at 07/16/09 3:36 PM | Reply
Score = 3

Definitely owned that Geggy Tah record.

Posted by: ummm at 07/16/09 4:05 PM | Reply
Score = 2

"Whoever you are"

all-time worst song ever.

Posted by: Ed Long at 07/16/09 4:11 PM | Reply
Score = -5

So this clipse track was recorded between 1996 and 1997 and was never commercially released. The Geggy Tah album this track was on came out in 1996 as well. Could be a coincidence, could be a rip-off. But the track was never officially released so to me, the point is moot.

Posted by: Michael Rudolf at 07/16/09 4:18 PM | Reply
Score = -1

Michael Rudolf, consider how foolish it is to claim that you didn't rip off someone else's idea because you actually came up with the idea first but just didn't say it out loud for 13 years. That's pretty feeble.

Posted by: toberose in reply to Michael Rudolf's comment at 07/21/09 11:19 PM | Reply
Score = 0

Geggy Tah were great. I saw them back in something like 1999 or 2000...right around then, and they had several great songs. I had all of the albums up to that point but never realized the song was in a VW commercial. When they performed, they had these HUGE pipes and would stand upstairs and lightly put them by unsuspecting persons downstairs watching the previous band and blow to scare the ish out of them.

Pay up them royalties Clipse

Posted by: Cory at 07/16/09 5:33 PM | Reply
Score = 2

um this song never made the clipse any money, Geggy Tah are just washed up and trying to cash in on their only hit.

the reason this track is unreleased is because Pharrel clearly used the riff and melody of "Whoever you are" consciously as a homage to the Geggy Tah track. Being in the Hip-hop business I assume he is required to clear samples and pay royalties often. if the Clipse had pressed this as a single or sold it to people it would be a different story...

but they didn't.

these "insert obscure artist from the past" sues "insert sucessful artist of now" headlines need to stop

Posted by: bro nameth at 07/16/09 6:16 PM | Reply
Score = -1

Isn't the fact that this wasn't commercially released make any claim Geggy Tah have moot?

Posted by: Royce at 07/16/09 7:39 PM | Reply
Score = -1

if there was any money made on this, geggy tah should recoup it...obvious rip-off. i wouldn't call geggy tah obscure either...they had a big hit with "whoever you are" and the song was sold to a car commerical. one-hit-wonder perhaps, but not obscure. it was no coincidence. they should at least be sued for lifting the hook and using it poorly. i wouldn't have released it either. and who the fuck is bringing 'moot' back into the vernacular. am i in 1929?... or some LSAT prep class?

Posted by: the Ricards at 07/17/09 12:19 AM | Reply
Score = 5

To set the record straight (so to speak), Geggy Tah was a seriously talented live act out of LA in the '90s (main members were hot jazz/funk/etc pianist Greg Kurstin and multi-instrumentalist Tommy Jordan, both of whom are very much in-demand as producers these days). They put out three CDs on David Byrne's label, Luaka Bop, before the band broke up. The song in question is from their 2nd record, and the hook actually appears for a moment in another song on their first record ("Go" from 1994, IIRC). The Geggy Tah tune was also used in a Mercedes commercial some years later (which one assumes was properly licensed).

Pharrel didn't *sample* the Geggy Tah song - he just copied it flat out. The beat in the Clipse toon is a lo-fi re-do of the Geggy Tah song, while the hook is obviously and unquestionably lifted straight from the chorus of the Geggy Tah song - Pharrell stole the melody and rhythm note for note and didn't even bother to change the first few words. So, this isn't a case of unlicensed sampling - it's a case of plagiarism (taking someone else's work and trying to pass it off as one's own).

It's illegal to use copyrighted material without permission, even for a "mix tape" (though apparently the Clipse joint was in fact released in 2007). But whether or not Geggy Tah are entitled to a big payout, they most certainly are entitled to demand that their song not be used without permission (which apparently they did), and if that demand isn't heeded (which apparently it wasn't), they most certainly have the right to sue whoever uses their copyrighted material without permission and, at the very least, make them cease and desist from using the material.

Posted by: MC Xerox at 07/17/09 3:08 PM | Reply
Score = 5

Exactly.

Posted by: Karma at 07/19/09 3:16 AM | Reply
Score = -1

This post is bringing out the Geggy Tah fanboys in droves. Bad looks abound in this thread. I'm surprised anyone will admit liking this shitty group. Straight shook.

Posted by: Dizzy at 07/21/09 10:30 PM | Reply
Score = 1

MC Xerox has stated it perfectly. Plagiarism. If Pharrell is the production genius he is touted to be, then he needs to either come up with his own material, or get permission from the artist he copies ANY portion of a song from. I think it shows a decline in our societies integrity when people are not outraged about issues like this.

Posted by: DJ Pablo at 07/22/09 2:01 PM | Reply
Score = 0