Who Made The Bootleg Acid Rap CD That Hit The Billboard Charts?

Fake Shore Drive posted this Chicago Reader exposé on the people behind A bootleg version of Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap mixtape that made it onto the Billboard Charts.

Fortunately the Acid Rap bootleg includes another piece of information—a UPC bar code, which contains a six-digit manufacturer-identification number. Using a UPC search available through GS1, I traced the Acid Rap bar code back to Music District Inc., a tiny label based in Houston.

According to Music District’s site, there are only a few artists on its roster, including a rapper named Twank (aka Twank Star), whose first Music District album, Twank Is Coming!, isavailable to download from CD Baby. The six-digit manufacturer ID included in the bar code on the CD Baby page for Twank Is Coming! matches the one on the back of MTC’s Acid Rapbootleg. That same manufacturer ID has been used for other MTC bootlegs sold through Barnes & Noble and eBay, including Gucci Mane’s I’m Up and a Lil Boosie compilation calledThe History of Boosie.

Music District owner and CEO Suaran Marshall says the unlicensed releases are none of his doing, and that this isn’t the first time bootleggers have used his label’s bar codes. “I’m pretty sure I know who’s behind it,” he says. “The company is going to be 1-Stop.” Music District’s relationship with 1-Stop hasn’t been entirely antagonistic, though…

Robin Thicke Sues The Family Of Marvin Gaye

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From USA Today:

An attorney for Thicke and collaborators Williams and Clifford Harris Jr (aka T.I.) filed a lawsuit Thursday, asking a federal judge to determine that their song Blurred Lines does not copy elements from two older songs from Marvin Gaye and Funkadelic (George Clinton).

This comes after Marvin Gaye’s family and Bridgeport Records’ alleged claims against the singers that the song sounds remarkably similar to Gaye’s Got To Give Up, demanding financial compensation for copyright infringement.

“Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work,” the suit alleges.

Funkadelic, the George Clinton-led band that led the ’70s funk movement, has also allegedly claimed similarity between Thicke’s hit and Sexy Ways.

A copy of the suit obtained by The Hollywood Reporter reads:

“Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists. Defendants continue to insist that plaintiffs’ massively successful composition, ‘Blurred Lines,’ copies ‘their’ compositions.”

Prince Joins Twitter (@3rdeyegirl) & Drops New Music

I’m not gonna sit here and copy Tweets left and right, but yes, Prince & his 3rd Eye Girl have arrived on the social network. We’ve already received a gem as a result: the below track, titled ‘Groovy Potential’. Let’s hope for more exclusives and the old man (or whoever runs his account) continues to learn how to navigate Twitter.

Cee-Lo Green & Christina Aguilera Will Return To ‘The Voice’

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From Rolling Stone:

The Voice returns on September 23rd, and original coaches Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera are reuniting with fellow panelists Blake Shelton and Adam Levine. After sitting the fourth season out – with Shakira and Usher filling in – Green and Aguilera linked back up with the team as part of the Television Critics Association press tour this past weekend.

“I needed a moment to step away,” Aguilera said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Thank God for Shakira. She did a beautiful job.” Green said it was surreal to see Usher filling in for him. “It was awkward and intriguing at the same time,” Green said. “It was a bit of an out-of-body experience.”