I’m sure you’ve heard Dua Lipa’s song, “Levitating.” It’s super catchy and set some Billboard records. You may have heard a band called Artikal Sound System saying that “Levitating” was ripped off from their song “Live Your Life.” They absolutely sound the same with practically the same chords and definitely the same melody.

Adam Neely explains in this video that there are certainly some mitigating factors on this whole plagiarism lawsuit.

I’m pretty convinced what happened was not plagiarism, but someone independently coming up with a strikingly similar chord progression and melody. What clinched it for me was the Song Exploder podcast breakdown of the creation of Lipa’s song.

I expect Artikal Sound System will lose its lawsuit. However, I think Outkast’s “Rosa Parks” influence in this song merits a songwriting credit and royalties. Not because it’s plagiarized, but because of the similar melody/structure.