I'm not hearing a lot of similarity. They both start with a drum beat and have the same title. What else..?

@1 I'm not hearing it either. I guess other than the style, the rhythm, the melody, the arrangement, the instruments, and the words, they must be exactly the same. But then, I'm an ignoramus about music.

I really don't hear it either.

Sampling is a timeless tradition of hip hop, and thinking litigation is the answer is part of hip hop's biggest problem. What you get is a "pay to play" industry, where big artists (admittedly, like Pharrell) can pay exorbitant license fees. Then people like it because it sounds like something they recognize, and the already-successful artists get more successful.

Smaller artists? Local artists? Indie rappers? They're fucked. They can either make their own stuff and completely throw away a core tenant of hip hop. Or, they can sample and get sued. Try listening to major hip hop artists, then listen to C-list rappers who are part of their crew, guest star on their albums, etc. The major difference? The songs smaller artists can afford to sample are extremely obscure.

The best source for a grounded understanding in this is repeatedly listening to www.wefunkradio.com. They love playing hit rap songs, and the original songs they're sampling, back to back.

@1 agreed, and I was 100% convinced on Blurred Lines.

I don't think there's any sampling of Velvet Hammer.

What Nipper is alleging is that Pharrell "stole/borrowed/appropriated" the style and the "feel" of the song...which is different, somehow, from being "inspired" by another song.

I'm one of those who acknowledges that "Got to Give It Up" was a strong inspiration for "Blurred Lines"--that Robin Thicke said "Hey, we should do a song like 'Got To Give It Up'...with that kind of feel" and "Blurred Lines" was the result. While similar...they're not the same song...just as "Happy" is not the same song as "Happy".

(And, I recognize that I'm veering dangerously close to Vanilla Ice's justification for saying that "Ice Ice Baby" did not share the same bassline as "Under Pressure"--but that was a manipulated sample...and I'm not sure either "Blurred Lines" or "Happy" actually sample or borrow melody lines from the songs that may have inspired them.)

Count me in the "not hearing it" camp.

Can I ask the author of this article exactly what elements of Velvet Hammer's "Happy" he thought Pharrell ripped off? I hear zero similarities. Come on, guys.

Yeah, just listened to both back to back and heard two completely different songs. There's nothing there.

I concur with all the other "what are you hearing that I'm not hearing" comments. But thanks for the posting--two groovy songs to help my afternoon.

And then there's this to consider . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_fdGk2I…

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSrE27am…

I don't see a preemptive suit arising out of this. The "Blurred Lines" situation is much different, and the preemptive suit was a good idea by a very good attorney. Thicke's kid and Pharrell admittedly and clearly copped the feel of the Gaye tune. The Gaye Estate's attorney then took an aggressive posture. Are the writers of the VH song threatening litigation over this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sugWLGGm…

I don't care if this is a crappy example, I was waiting to use that damn clip

Other than the use of the word "happy," both being music and recorded on planet earth, there are no definable litigable similarities.

I'm gonna go ahead and declare this a swing and a miss at creating hater-aid outrage.

You, sir, have struck out. Try again later.

I don't hear any similarity either. Slog click-bait.

Bullshit. Hipsterwanker

@6/16 EXACTLY!! It's not a straight rip off/cover, you guys. It is a contemporary pop rewrite (like I said).

How about his "The Prettiest Girl" track? That was his attempt at appropriating the Impressions. "Prettiest" doesn't sound OLD or exactly the same as the Impressions because he's made it sound contemporary; the song SOUNDS like it was built on a computer. Maybe thats the problem - since the oughties most pop music has been exclusively built on computers and hearing sounds otherwise confuses the brain. That aural confusion is why I don't like to hear pop music, to me it's sound is unsettling.

Anyways, the Velvet Hammer track has been a long Rare/Northern Soul club play, I've heard it countless times, tho perhaps pitched up a bit. Maybe it takes a proper soulie or a record nerd's archaeological ear to hear? Perhaps 'cause the first time I heard Pharrell's "Happy" I knew where he pulled his "Happy" from; he sings the word "Happy" EXACTLY the same as the VH song AND they share the same melodic flow/feeling.

I'm not sure why it's hard to understand the parallel/appropriation here. Pharell isn't a fool, he's been doing this a while and has reach as it TAKES reach to suss out RARE sounds to remake into HIS sounds. Y'all should know this has been stock for Hip Hop producers for at least three decades now.

Man, if this set off a few trolls y'all are really gonna get upset when I start writing about how Zeppelin were actually a sad Small Faces wanna be group.

Ha ha ha ha! Strong work nipper! I've been wondering how the Slog trolls were going to react to some of the LineOut writers.

Pharrell's "Happy" sounds a lot MORE like.... Pharrell's You Know What under the "NERD" label - an album which also contained a track labeled 'Happy'

Check out this version...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=385…

Velvet Hammer recorded as Walter and the Admerations (sic), High Society, and the Green Berets, as they (apperently) prefer to be called.

I like how everybody that disagree with an obvious troll post is now a "troll."

Oh. My god! You guys! A song that shares the same "flow/feeling" as another song!

Clearly an law suit is in order.

So, solution: Divide all musicians throughout history in half. Then one half takes turns suing the other half. Then switch.

To see the similarity just click on happy and northern soul girl. There is no doubt that Velvet Hammer's Happy inspired the new version. I prefer to see it as a homage rather than a rip off though - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZLLPaX4S…

The only link (apart from the title) is when Northern Soul Girl (Levanna McLean) mixed the two tracks together in a video of her dancing in Bristol.

Both also have a Northern Soul "feel" but then thousands of other tracks do too...