Cory Graves
Erykah Badu Joins Outkast and T.D. Jakes Sues Young Jeezy.
From time to time, local music lawsuits happen.
This one, though, is one of the biggest we've seen in a minute: T.D. Jakes, the leader of Dallas' biggest megachurch, has vowed to sue Kendrick Lamar and Young Jeezy for sampling snippets of his sermon in the “Holy Ghost” remix that appears on Jeezy's latest album, Seen It All: The Autobiography.
Per a post that appeared on the official Facebook page of Bishop T.D. Jakes Ministries last Monday, the religious leader was none too pleased to find the pair using clips from his “Don't Let Chatter Stop You” sermon in the song, writing: “SPECIAL NOTICE: The 'Holy Ghost' remix by Jeezy featuring Kendrick Lamar was produced without the knowledge or consent of T.D. Jakes, TDJ Enterprises, Dexterity Music or its associated companies. We are taking the necessary legal actions to stop the unauthorized use of T.D. Jakes' intellectual property.”
Though lawyers have cited the 1994 court case against 2 Live Crew as evidence that the sample falls into the fair use category, Jakes' ministry has vowed to continue with its lawsuit. In any case, the song has mostly disappeared from the internet for the time being — though, for now at least, you can still find it streaming here.
On the other hand, Outkast's performance at its three-day #ATLast festival in Atlanta over the weekend didn't cause too many objections — especially on Sunday night, when the event's biggest special guest joined the pair onstage. That's when Andre 3000's “baby mama” (her words) and Dallas' own Erykah Badu joined Outkast for a performance of “Humble Mumble” off of the outfit's Stankonia album. Check out some poor quality phone video of the performance below.
Slightly better quality is the video from last night's episode of The Voice, where Dallas' own Kelli Douglas became the latest North Texan to join the crop of contestants on the current season. Douglas' addition to Team Adam makes that four North Texans on this season of the show, for those of you keeping track. Here's a clip of her audition.
Also hitting the YouTubes this week was the gazillionth TED Talk video — this one notable if only because it stars Neon Indian's Alan Palomo. The talk, titled “Auteurs in the Ether,” is mostly about not trying to distance from one's influences. As the North Texas expat cites, 12 hours of new music is uploaded SoundCloud every minute — meaning, in terms of pop music, pretty much everything has been done before. It's nothing to worry about, though, says Palomo, who says, “If nothing is original, then steal everything and don't be ashamed.” Here's his talk in its entirety.
Speaking of new music: Palomo's fellow North Texas expat, Zach Blair (Rise Against, Hagfish), has got a new outfit called Vanishing Life that's set to release its debut seven-inch via Collect Records on October 14. The band also includes Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Rival Schools) on vocals and guitar, plus …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's Autry Fulbright and Jamie Miller on bass and drums, respectively. Here's a single from that upcoming release.
Another former Dallas resident with a new release on the horizon is Luis Dubuc, whose Mystery Skulls project will finally release its debut album via Warner Bros. on October 27. We've recently learned that Nile Rodgers and Brandy will guest on a pair of tracks. You'll have to wait until the album comes out to hear either of those songs, but, in the meantime, you can stream the disc's third single — featuring Snowblood — below.
Then there's Americana outfit Sugarfoote and Company, which does still happen to live in the area. The Cody Foote-led group, which has long held a Monday night residency at Adair's, is currently working on a studio album with Josh White at new Deep Ellum studio Aqua Lab Sound Recordings. While that one is still a work in progress and won't officially earn its release until further down the road, the band's agreed to give White Noise an exclusive first taste of the album's debut single, “Long Gone Daddy.” Check it out below.
And, finally, singer-songwriter Sara Hickman has been added to the lineup for the North Oak Cliff Music Festival (read: that concert where Edie Brickell is reuniting with the New Bohemians for), which will go down October 25 at Lake Cliff Park. Tickets are available here.
Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!
