Ah, the joys of fast speed internet. Be recognized now for something and people are sure to bite at the heels of your recognition by digging through your whole history of accomplishments. Good if you have a clean record, otherwise, people are going to bring back dead crap from the grave and present it for the world to scrutinize.
Case in point:
A Reddit thread is abuzz right now about local Filipino hip hop artist Andrew E’s alleged plagiarism of Cash Money & Marvelous’ song “Find An Ugly Woman”. For your reference:
Andrew E–born Andrew Ford Valentino Espiritu–has made a name for himself in the local entertainment scene. A rapper himself, he has more than 30 hit hip hop singles under his name. In his entertainment career, Andrew E has ventured into acting and producing records under his own label Dongalo Records. One of his well-known projects was producing Salbakuta’s S2pid Luv single, which cemented the hip hop group’s legacy in Pinoy pop culture history.
That the plagiarism issue resurfaced yet again (per our hip hop masters here at POP!, this issue already made news over a decade ago) is rather unfortunately timed, as it was just last Sunday that weekend noon time variety show ASAP paid tribute to Andrew E and his music.
ASAPinoy presents the music of Andrew E! 👏👏👏🇵🇭🎶 #ASAPHunYOLO pic.twitter.com/EHOdnzR5v5
— ASAP Natin ‘To (@ASAPOfficial) June 24, 2018
The thread points out the eerie similarity of the said song to Andrew E’s hit 90s single “Humanap Ka Ng Panget”, as well as other blatantly false ‘truth bombs’ and claims he’s been pulling off over the years, such as his statement about writing “Humanap Ka Ng Panget” while on board a bus:
…and hyping his sales pitch for the items he sells online, for profit:
It may also be worth noting that in 2013, in a presscon for his movie Raketeros, Andrew E. claimed to be the first Filipino stakeholder of Facebook. Yes, Facebook.com. Where you probably got this story from.
The thread also points out other plagiarisms that happened over the entirety of his musical career.
So, did Andrew E really rip off his first major hit from another group? Our musically-inclined fellas from InqPOP! tried their hands at remixing Cash Money & Marvelous and Andrew E. songs, and what we got is a (crude) snippet of a song that is eerily linked in terms of melody AND lyrics. But still, we leave it up to YOU to make the judgment:
Tell us your thoughts! Comment below. /VT
*****
Other InqPOP! stories you might like:
16 pop songs with lyrics that work as poetry
It turns out that listening to Christmas songs may not be good for our brain
8 Pop songs that sound just as awesome when played on the ukulele
10 songs for the emotera in you this rainy season
8 of the best cover songs by OPM artists
