The writers of 3LW’s popular R&B single, “Playas Gon’ Play,” are challenging the originality of Taylor Swift’s pop hit, “Shake It Off.”
In an intellectual property lawsuit, Nathan Butler and Sean Hall claim that the chorus of Swift’s song borrowed the lyrics of the 2001 song they penned for the former Disney stars who made headway as the very highly recognized Cheetah Girls, a group consisting of 3LW and famous Disney actors, Raven-Symoné and Sabrina Bryan.
“Playas Gon’ Play,” sung by Naturi Naughton, Adrienne Bailon, and Kiely Williams, contains lyrics, “Playas, they gonna play / And haters, they gonna hate / Ballers, they gonna ball / Shot callers, they gonna to call / That ain’t got nothing to do with me and you / That’s the way it is.”
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In Swift’s version, released 2014, she sings, “The players gonna play, play, play, play, play / The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate / Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake / I shake it off, I shake it off / Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break / And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake.”
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Originally filed in 2017, the lawsuit was dismissed, but has now been appealed and is expected to go to a jury trial. Swift, who claims to be the sole writer of “Shake It Off,” says she has never heard of 3LW or their song in her life.
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“In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, ‘clickbait’ reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed to shake off and focus on my music,” Swift said in a declaration filed on Monday.
She continued, “I have never heard the song ‘Playas Gon’ Play’ on the radio, on television, or in any film. The first time I ever heard the song was after this claim was made.”
Ironically, the title of Swift’s “Shake It Off” shares the same title as R&B and pop icon Mariah Carey’s 2005 Billboard-topping single. The chorus of Carey’s song repeats the phrase, “Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake it off.”
The single was written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Johnta Austin. It would be hard to claim never ever hearing of Carey or her groundbreaking hits from the highly acclaimed album, The Emancipation of Mimi, throughout the 2000s, but anything’s possible.
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The IP lawsuit opens a can of worms, as it has become apparent that the tactic of using a combination of influences is a commonplace occurrence in the music business. From photo shoots to on-stage performances, music artists have imitated, duplicated, and manipulated across the board.
Those with integrity are gracious enough to credit their muses, and even collaborate with them, snuffing out the scandal behind it all. Others like to blatantly borrow and capitalize off of the originators’ works, claiming credit all to themselves. Then, have the nerve to wonder why karma is paying them a visit.
Giving Swift the benefit of the doubt, she could be genuinely unaware of the coincidental meshing of two popular R&B and pop songs in her “Shake It Off.” That would be even more convincing if there wasn’t a history of missteps regarding copying others, which have often been called out by fans online.
Then, there’s the music industry’s history of cultural appropriation and IP thievery, also known as “whitewashing,” from artists of color, stemming from the days of Pat Boone, Elvis Presley, and The Beach Boys, for instance. It’s difficult to challenge a culture that has condoned these practices for so many years. But, again, anything’s possible.
