SEVENTEEN Accused of Plagiarizing Cupid's "Cupid Shuffle"
On August 14, Friday, Cupid took to Twitter, accusing SEVENTEEN of plagiarizing his most famous song, "Cupid Shuffle". He tweeted that he believed SEVENTEEN used parts of the 2007 hit song for their latest title track, "Left & Right".
KPOP GROUP #seventeenで妄想 takes Cupid Shuffle & Cupid is taking action! — CUPID (@NEWCUPID) August 14, 2020
He shared another Tweet that had a video with it, comparing the similarities of the two songs. It appears he is talking about how the song has similar beats.
This Video says it all #LeftRight came from #Cupidshuffle #squarebiz Thoughts ?? pic.twitter.com/EwNuYDZS9G — CUPID (@NEWCUPID) August 15, 2020
One of his fans commented on the similarities, saying the beat of "Left & Right" sounds exactly like "Cupid Shuffle". They stated that they should pay him royalties and apologize. Cupid quote-tweeted the fan's reply and stated that K-Pop artists thinking they can do "whatever" with his culture and proceeded to call them bullied. Cupid is Africa-American, so it is believed he is referring to black culture.
They feel like they can do whatever with our culture. They need to get the business right. #KPOP think they some bullies https://t.co/NTEDiWTA5I — CUPID (@NEWCUPID) August 15, 2020
He shared the video of the similarities between the song again in another tweet, this time tagging SEVENTEEN's official Twitter account. He stated he wants compensation for his music being used, saying that they can no longer say they were "inspired" by his music.
This is the music business! That “inspired” card has EXPIRED. The business hasn’t been done. @pledis_17 I made the blueprint. That cost $ @SeventeenFY pic.twitter.com/gTo3bmvnE5 — CUPID (@NEWCUPID) August 15, 2020
Someone had asked Cupid if he has gotten in touch with Pledis Entertainment, to which he stated he did but was never responded to.
They have yet to respond https://t.co/XgxPif1ViA — CUPID (@NEWCUPID) August 15, 2020
Cupid has also made a video talking about the issue. He started off by saying SEVENTEEN, a worldwide famous K-Pop group, has just released their new song. He then again showed the similarities of his song with SEVENTEEN and asked fans what they think he and his team should do.
Pledis Entertainment has yet to release a statement on the matter.
ABOUT SEVENTEEN
SEVENTEEN debuted in 2015 under Pledis Entertainment. The group is divided into three sub-units: the Hip-Hop Unit, Performance Unit, and Vocal Unit. The thirteen members are all part of one sub-unit.
SEVENTEEN has been praised for being a "self-producing" idol group, with each member being active in the group's creative process. The members are all active in songwriting, choreographing, producing, and more aspects since their debut. SEVENTEEN has released three studio albums and seven extended plays.
Though they debuted in 2015, SEVENTEEN first saw success in 2016 with their first full-length studio album "Love & Letter", which charted well on both domestics charts and Oricon Weekly Pop Album Charts in Japan. The album's title track, "Pretty U", earned them their first music show won. Their next comeback that year, "VERY NICE", was also a huge success.
SEVENTEEN achieved mainstream breakthrough success in 2017, when they released "Teen,Age" and its title track "THANKS". The song topped the iTunes Chart in 29 countries. Time Magazine named SEVENTEEN as one of the best K-Pop groups during this time. That year, the boys made their Japan debut.
The boys saw continued success in 2019 with "Home", their most popular release to date. The song won ten music show wins and the extended play it came from, "You Made My Dawn", attained two tiple crowns and a grand slam. That same year, they released "Hit", which scored them a daesang for Albu of the Year. The album the song came from, "An Ode", was named as the best K-pop album of the year by Billboard.
In June 2020, they released their seventh extended play "Heng:garae", which is the group's best-selling album to date.
