Amid the ongoing legal battle between HYBE Labels and ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, NewJeans's song "Attention" is being accused of plagiarizing a song from 2021.
After NewJeans was accused of plagiarizing their whole concept from 1990s Mexican girl group Jeans, people are pointing out that their debut song bears an uncanny similarity to a song released in 2021. For reference, "Attention" was released in 2022.
Specifically, people noted that the intro of "Attention" is highly similar to Pace's 2021 single "Living Backwards." Both songs make use of similar synths, rhythm, and tempo. In fact, upon first listening, some people claim that it's nearly identical. The synths remain throughout both songs.
The biggest difference is that Pace's song is largely rap, while "Attention" is more vocal-heavy.
While others speculated it was sampled, this does not seem to be the case. "Living Backwards" was written by Giuseppe Puglisi and Oliver Pace Kuhn, and was performed and likely produced by Pace himself.
Meanwhile, "Attention" was written by 250, Danielle (NewJeans), Duckbay, and Gigi. 250 is also credited as the producer.
With no mention of Pace or the writers of "Living Backwards," it is likely they did not get permission to sample the song.
Lol, is not a sample. she's not credits anything. when its come to nj its called sample, when come to other groups tokkies says plagiarism. hypocrite 1
— brotherrich (@dayruined9) May 20, 2024
After this was brought to people's attention, netizens expressed their disappointment on social media. Many mentioned how NewJeans's CEO, Min Hee Jin, had accused ILLIT of copying NewJeans concept and sound, and found it ironic that people are now finding supposed evidence that parts of NewJeans's career were also copied.
the audacity this woman has to say others plagiarized her when attention is an exact copy of “living backwards”? https://t.co/RSIZF8bD41 pic.twitter.com/0PVH190TXh
— ࣪ (@sirenlyres) May 20, 2024
Her whole career based on copying apparently inspiration and sampling when it comes to her but for others it’s plagiarism.
— foreveryoung 🐳 (@bt7nain) May 20, 2024
Others commented that this is not the first time NewJeans has been accused of plagiarism in their music. Following the release of their latest single, "Bubble Gum," people claimed they copied SHAKTAK's "Easier Said Than Done," which was released in 1982.
Not to mention newjean's upcoming songs bubblegum and how sweet are plagiarized too from shakatak and an indian movie song, respectively
— eigengrau (@sweetchaconne) May 20, 2024
On the other hand, people joked that they are glad this came to light since it introduced them to "Living Backwards."
This’s a nice song tho. Saved 😂 thanks mhj for introducing nice work around the world to us
— KoKo (@eisaceHK) May 20, 2024
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In other news, NewJeans is slated to release the songs "Supernatural" and "Right Now" in June as their Japanese debut. They are scheduled to host a Japanese fan meeting, "Bunnies Camp 2024 Tokyo Dome," on June 26 and 27. They are slated to release an album in the second half of 2024.
What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comments below!
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Written by Alexa Lopez
