will.i.am Apologises for Plagiarising DJ Lag's Beats on 'Culture' Song

Update 27/11: American producer and Black Eyed Peas front member, will.i.am, has reportedly responded to the controversy surrounding Megan Ryte's single "Culture". This comes after South African Black Twitter dragged the artist for plagiarising DJ Lag's "Ice Drop". According to News24, will.i.am released a shallow apology yesterday for failing to credit DJ Lag. Ironically, the apology is directed at Ryte not the South African artist. DJ Lag has reportedly refused to accept the apology. South African Black Twitter has, of course, demanded that will.i.am remunerate DJ Lag.

The one-minute video apology was posted on will.i.am's Twitter and Instagram this past Thursday. will.i.am admits that he is at fault for not crediting DJ Lag because he was responsible for the credit submission and somehow "forgot" to mention that the beat was not his. He additionally stated that Ryte should not receive any "hate" for the "error". will.i.am went on to say that DJ Lag, an international and Grammy-nominated South African DJ has an "awesome future ahead."

DJ Lag commented on will.i.am's apology saying, "The apology was not directed at me so I don't have to comment on that." He added, "But I can confirm that I was not approached by will.i.am or Megan for the use of my track before our Twitter brought it to trial."

This is not the first accusation the The Black Eyed Peas front man has faced from a South African artist. In 2015, TimesLIVE reported that will.i.am was caught up in a copyright infringement case with South African rapperToya Delazy. Delazy had released the single "Dreamer" in October of 2014 . A few weeks later, will.i.am then released a track titled "Dreamin' About The Future" the following month. Not only did the two tracks sound similar but will.i.am bagged a Lexus advert with the plagiarised song. Delazy also took to Twitter to comment on the "Culture" case.

According to News24, DJ Lag's recording manager, Sevi Spanoudi, confirmed that neither Ryte or will.i.am requested permission for using "Ice Drop". Ryte has yet to issue a formal response or apology in her own capacity. The "Culture" music video has since been pulled from the Hot 97 DJ's YouTube page.

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American DJ Megan Ryte has been accused of stealing beats from prominent South African gqom artist,DJ Lag, according to IOL. This comes after Ryte released her new song "Culture" featuring will.i.am and A$AP Ferg. Accusations gained traction this past Wednesday after many South African fans compared "Culture" to DJ Lag's "Ice drop" which was released in 2016 from his self-titled EP. Many more have also remarked on the apparent similarities in the music video as well and going on to further accuse Ryte of not only stealing the song's beat but also the video concept itself. DJ Lag responded to Ryte's "Culture" Twitter post with his "Ice Drop" music video which was released back in 2017.

READ: Meet DJ Lag, the 21-Year-Old Producer Taking Gqom to a Higher Place

Ryte announced the release of the "Culture" visuals on November 20th of this year. According to Revolt, the song (ironically) is about preserving and protecting Black culture from cultural appropriation. The music video is strikingly black and white with drone shots of the DJ on top of a building. On the other hand, DJ Lag's "Ice Drop" music video also has drone shots of dancers on a roof top.

Below are the two music videos for comparison purposes:

DJ Megan Ryte - Culture ft. will.i.am & A$AP Ferg (Official Video)www.youtube.com

DJ Lag - 'Ice Drop' (Official Video)www.youtube.com

Some Black South Africans have referenced famed American feminist theorist, bell hooks,to point out Ryte's cultural appropriation. Black Twitter, on the other hand, has not held back from blatantly calling her a "thief". South Africans have rallied behind DJ Lag by flooding the comment section under the "Culture" video on YouTube causing the artist to disable the comments. The number of dislikes under the video has risen exponentially above Ryte's actual number of subscribers. Complaints about the song have also been directed to Hot 97, the radio station where Ryte works.

According to Hot New Hip Hop, it is difficult to discern when beats are stolen considering "the finite number of possible chord progressions and melodic ideas, some cases are a little more clear than others - especially when the court of public opinion is out for blood". Admittedly, Ryte's silence is questionable considering that DJ Lag is an international artist who has played sets all over Europe.

South Africans are demanding that DJ Lag be credited and paid if the allegations are proven true. Take a look at some of their reactions below.