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Isn’t Busta Rhymes “Doin It Again” Just Hi-Tek’s “Round & Round” With Rappers? (Listen)

Posted by Nathan S. on 08/03/12 | Filed under Busta Rhymes, Hi-Tek, What the Fuck, Rap Nerdey, Chanel, Reek Da Villian

Man, it looks like I've got to start a new series called "What the Fuck Is Going On?" Fresh off trying to figure out what the fuck was going on with 50 Cent's "New Day", which followed trying to figure out what the fuck was going on with Fat Joe's "Pride & Joy", now we get to try to figure out what the fuck is going on with Busta Rhymes new single "Doin It Again".

While most of America will hear this song and not think twice, I guarantee my fellow rap nerds will instantly recognize both the beat and the hook. I'll give you a moment...yep, that's right, that beat's essentially a note-for-note copy of Hi-Tek's "Round and Round", even though the producer on Busta's. version is credited as Tedsmooth. What the fuck is going on?

Maybe Hi-Tek and Tedsmooth just used the same sample...and loop...in the exact same way...but the melody on the hook is identical as well, with Chanel replacing Jonell's original vocals. What the fuck is going on here? Did Busta just rip off Hi-Tek? Hard to believe he'd do that on an album single - so what's the other explanation? He paid Hi-Tek for the track and hoped no one would notice (or care) that it was a rehash of a ten year song?

It's impossible to know what kind of copyright/legal shit went down behind the scenes, so unless Busta or Hi-Tek speaks up we'll probably never know the real answer. I just hope Tek is getting paid what he deserves - at the very least I'm making sure RefinedHype gives him credit for the original.

Both Busta's "Doin It Again" and Hi-Tek's "Round and Round", off his 2001 "Hi-Teknology" album and featuring Jonell, are below for compare and contrast purposes. If anyone has answers share in the comments below.

(P.S. - You know how you can tell you're really a rap nerd? When you get legitimately angry about even the possibility of Busta ripping off an eleven-year-old, semi-obscure song.)