Girl Talk Mastermind May Be Letting His Press Get To His Head

Looks like someone doesn’t think imitation is all that sincere a form of flattery:

This might sound odd coming from a guy who’s basically made his career out of jacking bits and pieces of other people’s beats, but lately, Gregg Gillis — a.k.a. Girl Talk — feels like he’s the one who’s getting jacked.

Or, more specifically, his style is, by a host of highfalutin rappers and producers who’ve taken his catch-as-catch-can production ethos (a dab of Neutral Milk Hotel, a touch of Juelz Santana) and made it their own. In fact, there’s one track currently making the rounds — Kanye West’s “Stronger,” which features ‘Ye rapping directly over the beat from Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” — that’s so reminiscent of a Girl Talk song, even Gillis took notice, and he’s a tad bit suspicious of the similarities.

“I’ve opened for Kanye this year in Vegas … and I’m sure he showed up a second before he had to play and didn’t see me or know I was playing, but you have to wonder about [the similarities],” he told MTV News hours before rocking the stage at at Bonnaroo. “Because no one has gotten back to me with positive support, but I’ve played in the same building as so many celebrities, and [2006’s Night Ripper has] gotten around enough that I’d think you’d probably hear it.”

In the same building as celebrities? Well, that makes Gillis’ accusations completely credible, then. Clearly, this act of wholesale infringement cannot stand. After all, when have rappers ever lifted their beats from rock songs in the past?

Have Kanye West And 50 Cent Been Flirting With Girl Talk? [MTV]