- Music
- 22 Mar 17
Following allegations that Sheeran plagiarised his hit song "Shape of You" from the TLC classic "No Scrubs," the credits to the song have been revised.
Since Ed Sheeran dropped his new hit song "Shape of You," critics have been noting similarities between the track and other pop songs, including Sia's "Cheap Thrills" and to go back further, Tracy Chapman's track "Mountains O' Things." Now, however, the writers from the 90s R&B hit "No Scrubs" have come forward claiming that Sheeran's chorus "Girl you know I want your love/Your love was handmade for somebody like me" is just a little too close to the classic chorus of "I don't want no scrubs/scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me". There has been no official statement from either side, however, the writing credits for "Shape of You" now include writers Kevin ‘She’kspere’ Briggs, Kandi Burruss, Tameka ‘Tiny’ Cottle and the only TLC member credited with the classic song, the late Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes. This means they will now receive not only a cut of the earnings from "Shape of You," but also a cut of the revenue from Sheeran's album ÷, which is already the top selling album of 2017 despite being released two weeks ago.
Kandi Burress, who now stars on the reality show The Real Housewives of Atlanta took the time to post a humble response to the credit on Instagram.
The song was initially credited to Sheeran, former Snow Patrol member Johnny McDaid, and U.K songwriter Steve Mac. The song was originally planned to become a new Rihanna hit, as was Sia's "Cheap Thrills."
Sheeran isn't a stranger to this kind of controversy. In 2016, his hit song "Thinking Out Loud" was criticised for its similarities to Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." A lawsuit was filed by songwriter of "Let's Get It On" Ed Townsend’s estate, claiming that "Thinking Out Loud" was a blatant plagiarisation. Earlier that year, songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard sued Sheeran for 20 million dollars claiming that their song "Amazing," made famous by 2012 X Factor winner Matt Cardle, was the basis for Sheeran's song "Photograph."
Listen to "Shape of You" and "No Scrubs" below and see for yourself.