Chart topping rapper “Soulja Boy” has been accused of flagrantly ripping off the Death Note OST in one of his latest releases, imaginatively called “Death Note.”
He is but the latest in a series of minor American celebrities caught plagiarising the works of Japanese artists with the evidently misplaced hope that nobody will notice, a practice since termed “Simmonsing” in honour of its foremost and most shameless practicioner
The track in question, “Long Journey,” which listeners should be warned is exceptionally bad even by contemporary rap standards.
The track from the Death Note OST he is alleged to have flagrantly ripped off, the “Near Theme”.
Whilst liberally “sampling” the music of others is an accepted staple of hiphop, generally it does not extend to stealing entire songs, series names and even fonts, all without credit.
Presumably the rapper, a barely literate 19-year-old who came to fame through such sites as YouTube, thought nobody would notice. He has previously been sued for allegedly stealing the name “Soulja Boy” from another performer, and even amongst other rappers has been dismissed as “garbage.”
As the album in question is merely a freely released “mixtape” it may escape any legal sanction, but this hardly makes it any less ethically dubious.
