Fans of South Korean boyband BTS are calling out Filipino rappers Skusta Clee and Flow G, both former members of Ex Batallion, for alleged plagiarism.
Fans are accusing Skusta Clee of plagiarising the song “Ddaeng” which was produced by BTS members Suga, RM and J-Hope and was released in 2018. Skusta Clee’s song “Deym-90’s Gang” has been pointed out as having a similar beat track with the aforementioned BTS track.
you be the judge:
right ear – ddaeng by bts;
left ear – deym by flow g ft. skusta clee(i highly advise you to use earphone while listening to this)
note: i increased the speed of deym by a bit to match the bpm of each other pic.twitter.com/y509A2ic3O— ᴮᴱ clary⁷₁₃ 🌸 (@lovelykoopjm) October 4, 2020
“Deym” was launched last September as a promotional single for a clothing line.
Last Sunday, Skusta Clee tweeted his defense on the plagiarism allegations, stating that he “used generic beats for the song” and “borrowed the vibe from the music”. He also asked BTS fans to calm down, as he claims he didn’t plagiarize the song. After releasing that statement, he made his social media accounts private and even deactivated his official Facebook page.
Not only BTS DDAENG but Skusta Clee also plagiarized BIGBANG’S BAD BOY.
What a shame to the Filipino community. #PROTECTSKUSTACLEEATALLCOST 😃 pic.twitter.com/WNmU4Jkm7x
— ً (@omfgnayeon) October 5, 2020
It is not the first time that Skusta Clee was accused of plagiarism. Other K-pop fans have accused him of copying Bigbang’s song “Bad Boy” for his track “Wag Ka Nang Magalit”.
Ex-Battalion Music Management, Skusta Clee’s talent representation, released an official statement regarding the issue:
“It has been brought to attention of Ex-Battalion Music Management that the song “DEYM” by Archie “Flow G” Dela Cruz bears some resemblance to “DDAENG” by BTS. It was alleged by articles going around the internet that Flow G plagiarized the BTS song and made it his own. We at Ex-Battalion Music Management specifically deny all of these allegations.
The two songs are inherently different albeit sounding similar. The beats-per-minute (bpm) of the two songs differ as one is more or less 6-8 bpm faster than the other. Each of the two songs also use different chord patterns because the producers of the songs are different.
Our artists used a generic triplet flow or cadence. Other international artist also used this cadence over the years such as A$AP Rocky and Quavo. These cadences are not owned by anyone as they are of public domain. It was also claimed that the “vibe” of these songs are similar because of this cadence. We would like to point out that the context of these songs is different and “vibe” is subjective. Parallel thinking among artists do happen and it cannot be avoided.
These allegations were exacerbated by GMA News who published the article without checking the veracity of the allegations, leading to the public shaming of our talents. It also cost Flow G some endorsement deals. We demand that GMA News, and all other media outlets, remove these publications from their website within 72 hours or else we will be forced to file criminal charges against them.
As for Mr. Daryl “Skusta Clee” Ruiz, these allegations brought about a smear campaign against his name and reputation even though he had nothing to do with the song-writing process. He was just show in the video as an ambassador of the brand. There is even a movement called “#SkustaCleeGoingToJailParty” even though there will be no jail time involved even if there is a conviction of copyright infringement.
We would like to appeal to the public and to the fanbase of both groups to refrain from wishing ill on any of the parties involved and rise above all the hate as a show of support and respect to these musicians during this trying time.”
POP! Creator Community / Nicole Valdez
