Three Times The Beat

The greatest mystery in music today involves one beat and three different songs that simultaneously have it. I first heard this beat in the song “Jook Gaal” by Elephant Man (featuring Twista and some other rappers). I heard it in a mix and I really enjoyed it. Then, I heard another song in a different mix weeks later that I later found out was “Move Your Body” by identical twin vocalists Nina Skyy. It featured the exact same backing beat, with some extra sounds. Two songs having the same beat, even at the same time isn’t rare. In fact, last summer, two songs--Lumidee’s “Never Leave You (Uh-Oooh)” and Wayne Wonder’s “No Holding Back”--had very similar beats, the style of beat which would later be dubbed the “Diwali Beat.” However, I ended up hearing yet another song with the same beat as “Jook Gaal” and “Move Your Body.” This song was dancehall/reggae (like Elephant Man’s song) but featured someone yelling at the beginning (who could or could not be Lil’ Jon). I don’t know whose song this is yet, but like the other two songs, it’s getting radio airplay.

It’s one thing for there to be a couple of songs with the same beat, but three? The thing I have to wonder is who came up with it first? Did one of these people flat out steal the beat from the other? This has happened as Omarion stole the beat to J-Kwon’s “Tipsy” in a song I never heard and has only been played on the radio once. Was it just a coincidence that these beats are the same? PDI/Dreamworks' animated films have occasionally had similarities to Pixar’s films (Antz versus A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo versus Shark Tale). Whatever it is, it’s just plain wrong.