Ed Sheeran has been forced to add the writers of TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’ to the credits of his track, ‘Shape Of You’, after it was suggested the two songs bore a striking resemblance to one another.
‘Shape Of You’, which topped the UK singles chart earlier this year, had initially listed just Ed, his producer Steve Mac and Irish songwriter Johnny McDaid as its writers.
However, after an increasing number of people suggested it owed a lot of its musicality to ‘No Scrubs’, Kevin Briggs, Kandi Burruss and Tameka Cottle have now also been listed as co-writers.
Kandi confirmed the news on her Instagram page on Monday (20 March), celebrating the incoming royalties by captioning a screengrab of the headline with a dollar-eyed emoji.
For those who want to compare the tracks, here’s Ed’s ‘Shape Of You’:
And here’s TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’:
What. A. TUNE.
‘Shape Of You’ served as the joint lead single from Ed’s third album, ‘÷’, and it wasn’t long before it had topped the UK singles chart.
Describing the writing process, Ed has admitted that he initially wrote it with Rihanna in mind, and later considered giving it to Little Mix, before ultimately keeping it for himself.
When the track was first unveiled, many noted that it was similar to Sia’s ‘Cheap Thrills, which had also initially been written for Rihanna.
Ed faced a similar controversy last year, when his song ‘Photograph’ was accused of ripping off a track by former ‘X Factor’ winner Matt Cardle.
Matt distanced himself from the upcoming lawsuit, which was filed by his co-writers, rather than the man himself.
Later, Marvin Gaye’s estate complained that ‘Thinking Out Loud’ may have copied musical elements of ‘Let’s Get It On’.