The super-producer stands trial for his Robin Thicke collaboration Blurred Lines.
The Blurred Lines battle between Pharrell Williams and the family of Marvin Gaye rages on in courts this week with the super-producer insisting that the controversial track, which became the biggest selling single of 2013, was not inspired by the Motown icon. Instead, the N.E.R.D. singer sites a rather unusual muse for the track – tongue-wagging twerker Miley Cyrus.
The go-to hit maker struck gold with the steamy hit, which launched frontman Robin Thicke as an international global star, for all of five minutes anyway. But the single sounded awfully familiar to the rest of us, including the Gaye family, who claim Blurred Lines is a complete rip-off of the infamous soul-funk anthem Got To Give It Up.
The similarities are undeniable, but what The Neptunes creator has shut down is that Marv’s 1977 hit even entered his head during the song’s creative process. I had Earl Sweatshirt in one room and Miley Cyrus in the other. I was doing a bunch of country-sounding music with Miley, he told the court, assuring that it was the work on Miley’s number one album Bangerz that inspired Blurred Lines. It was like blending this country sound with this up-tempo groove.
The Happy hit maker then spoke for an hour on his musical process and recalled how Blurred Lines came to be in mid-2012. I must have been channelling that feeling, that late ‘70s feeling, he said. Sometimes when you look back on your past work, you see echoes of people. But that doesn’t mean that’s what you were doing.
[Marvin Gaye] is one of the ones we look up to so much. This is the last place I want to be right now. The last thing you want to do as a creator is take something of someone else’s when you love him.
Robin Thicke was the first witness to stand in the trial back in September where he made the startling revelations that he lied about writing the track and simply wanted “some of the credit. Despite the feud, the pair are working on new music together with hopes to revive Thicke’s career following dismal sales of his latest album Paula.
The trial is expected to run for eight days altogether and will include testimonies from Williams, guest artist TI, and Robin’s ex-wife Paula.
