Harmony Samuels Responds To Jermaine Dupri’s Comments On Ciara’s R&B Smash “I Bet”
Ciara’s “I Bet” struck an instant chord with fans when it dropped in late January, but Jermaine Dupri was less impressed. The hitmaker called it a “rip-off of Usher’s ‘U Got It Bad’” in an interview with the AP, saying: “I’m clear on what I made and I’m clear on how music influences people… It might not be as evident as the ‘Blurred Lines’ situation, but I believe the same thing happened to me.”
Harmony Samuels, the producer of CiCi’s platinum-selling hit, initially kept quiet about Jermaine’s comments, but addressed the situation when I spoke to him in early July. (Full interview to come shortly). “I was miffed because I was like, ‘What?’ But at the same time you know what it is? Music is a cycle,” he explained. “Things repeat but they are still completely different.”
“That’s why I never responded,” the Brit continued. “Everybody was like, ‘Harmony, what do you think?’ I said zip.” Not that there’s any bad blood. “I love Jermaine Dupri. He’s in my top ten of producers,” Harmony reveals. “So when he said it, I said ‘I can understand why you feel that way. But it’s not true, so have a good day. I love you.’ And the following week, Usher was in the studio and I was kinda like, ‘There you go.’ He didn’t say shit.”
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