The Weeknd Premieres Video, Battles With Portishead Over Sample
Toronto singer-producer the Weeknd, purveyor of atmospheric, sexy-time jams about drug-filled, late-night romps, just dropped the music video for "Belong to the World," from his forthcoming album Kiss Land. The clip stars the Weeknd, born Abel Tesfaye, in an all-black get-up wandering a dark, futuristic dystopia filled with dancers. Watch over at MTV.
As soon as the clip premiered, however, Geoff Barrow of influential English trip-hop vets Portishead headed to Twitter to vent about the track, which, he says, samples his band's track "Machine Gun" without permission.
"I think it's a load of bollox," he wrote. "When someone asks to sample you and you refuse they should have the respect as a fellow artist to not use it." He later added, "We usually give sample clearance to tunes we like. its got fuk all to do with money! As most of them are hiphop artist that are skint."
Ball's in your court, Abel.
45m
1h 49m
3m
20m
20m
8m
22m
1m
52s
8m
2m
4m
3m
3m
16m
2m
20m
48s
1h 2m
1h 45m
1m
2m
6m
1h 27m
1h 20m
1h 34m
23m
1h 21m
45m
44m
20m
21m
24m
21m
1m
52s
2m
21m
20m
21m
1h 17m
57m
20m
1h 22m
20m
1h 30m
1h 7m
20m
57s
1h 15m
22m
22m
9m
21m
20m
20m
1m
46m
24m
21m
20m
1h 23m
59s
1h 22m
21m
1h 3m
22m
44m
1h 36m
23m
48m
12m
1h 27m
2m
3m
3m
3m
6m
1m
2m
3m
1m
21m
22m
44m
22m
45m
1h 25m
44m
2m
1m
2m
1h 30m
22m