This is news that truly disheartens me. I had an incredible amount of respect for Juke Ellington. I knocked out a mix last year consisting of tunes he suggested (and credited him as a collaborator), and I was awaiting a remix from him for some stems from a record (juke, of course) that I had been working on. He seemed to be churning out records at a ridiculous pace, and now we know why. The accusation that he's stealing tunes from people, making minor tweaks, and releasing them as his own seemed like an impossibility. But that's exactly what he's been accused of, and the links on Reddit paint a vivid picture.
Here we have a tune from Kid Urban, a promising producer from the UK.
The record in question was removed the tune from Juke Ellington's SoundCloud page. But, alas. It was posted on BlastMeTracks' page on YouTube. And it does indeed appear to be the same exact tune. The samples are in the same place. The sequencing sounds exactly the same. He didn't even bother to change the name of the tune. The only difference seems to be that the record has been pitched down:
At some point yesterday, Juke Ellington decided to remove all of the pictures of himself, and admit wrongdoing. Excuse his English, it's not his first language:
1.
This isn't quite as bad as I first assumed. But I'm wondering why you would take someone elses' work and put your name on it as if you created it? As a heads up to any aspiring producer, stealing music is the most disrespectful move you can make. It shows that you don't care for the art, the artists making it, or the fans that think that these tunes are yours. Sampling a record without approval or allowing people to secretly ghost produce tracks might be unethical, but they are practices within the industry that are tolerated. Ripping an entire record is inexcusable. Juke is the father of a young child. I don't know what else he does for money. This article runs the risk of ruining his musical credibility forever. As someone who advocated for him, was disappointed when paperwork held him from playing in the U.S., and someone who's collaborated with him, I'm fuming.
So there is no confusion down the road, please pay attention. Anyone proven to steal material from another and repackage it as their own will be blacklisted at this site, and any other site I work at for all of eternity. I reached out to Juke Ellington for a statement, and will update you if he decides to respond.
EDIT After posting this article, it looks like BOTH Juke Ellington and Kid Urban simply purchased the song from DreamFellas on SoundClick and released the track as their own. It's the third track on their page.
UPDATE Juke Ellington took to his Twitter page this morning to speak out about the situation after a Twitter conversation we had with a DAD reader:
@DoAndroidsDance @really_dood its better than buy these song , use them , dont admit & make a new aka
— juke ellington (@jukeellington) July 2, 2013
@DoAndroidsDance @really_dood ive made a big shit , now iam gonna work for it , ive lost respect and its normal , but i dont leave music
— juke ellington (@jukeellington) July 2, 2013
@DoAndroidsDance @really_dood hated or not , iam gonna work like a beast,i know I disappointed fulll guys , i pref assume than block everyon
— juke ellington (@jukeellington) July 2, 2013
@DoAndroidsDance @really_dood than block everyone & make a new project
— juke ellington (@jukeellington) July 2, 2013
@DoAndroidsDance i know ive disapointed dudes and iam sorry for dat,but we learn with our errors, iam gonna work for prove who iam
— juke ellington (@jukeellington) July 2, 2013
It might be too late, but he's being open and honest about the situation after being found out.
