Jay Chou schools K-Pop fans accusing him of plagiarizing INFINITE’s song

September 3, 2021

Mandopop superstar Jay Chou recently dropped a music lesson for K-Pop fans after they accused him of plagiarizing a 2011 song from male group INFINITE called “Julia.”

The allegation: On Aug. 27, Chou, 42, teased his 6.6 million followers on Instagram with a 25-second instrumental video taken from his upcoming new single.

Soon enough, some K-Pop fans accused the Taiwanese singer of plagiarism. They pointed out similarities between his instrumental and the intro of “Julia.”

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INFINITE, composed of Sungkyu, Dongwoo, Hoya, Woohyun, Sungyeol, L and Sungjong, released “Julia” from their album “Over The Top” in 2011. The K-Pop squad debuted as a seven-member group before Hoya’s departure in 2017. With the departure of three other members from the management agency Woollim, the fate of the K-pop group is unknown.

Chou’s defense Explanation: In a statement released by his agency to Apple Daily, Chou said he has used the same chord progression in earlier songs, such as “Sunny Day,” “Her Eyelashes” and “Qi Li Xiang.” “Sunny Day” and “Her Eyelashes” were released in 2003, while “Qi Li Xiang” came out in 2004.

“If the chord progression and the arrangement of the instruments are the same, then you’d find that the music is similar,” Chou said. “Basically, the chord progressions in pop music are all roughly the same.”
Chou added that creating a new melody using the same chord progression that “everyone uses today” is “the key.”
“[I] should be considered a trailblazer already, [I’ve] used the 6m-4-1-5 four-loop chord method since very early on, do you want me to list out a bunch of examples for you?”

Featured Image via @jaychou (left), woolliment (right)

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