Dua Lipa is going to court over “Levitating”. Maybe. But maybe not.

So, Duolingo has announced the release date of a new song with Megan Thee Stallion, and is finally out here on her Future Nostalgia tour, giving y’all snatched body suits and hair whips. And one of the legs of her tour is ‘bout to be in court. Because a group by the name of Artikal Sound System has filed a lawsuit claiming that Duolingo’s song “Levitating” sounds like one of their songs, and they had not received no credit nor money for the likeness.

Sometimes these cases pop up and I’m like ‘I do not hear it”, such as the case of Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” sounding like TLC’s “NO Scrubs”. I honest to God still cannot hear it. But sometimes this shit hits, and you just know somebody is getting paid, because the likeness is so glaring. We all fucking know that Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” sounded like Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up”. And Artikal Sound System ’bout to get their money, because “Levitating” absolutely sounds like their song.

I’m pretty sure that we’ve all heard “Levitating”. But for those who haven’t, here is a reminder.

And now here’s Artikal Sound System’s song that they claim Duolingo’s “Levitating” plagiarised.

Not only are some of the notes and chords the exact same, but even the melody of the hooks. Warner Music should just get the cheque book out. Except there’s a twist.

*Cue RuPaul’s Drag Race drama music*

Now, Artikal Sound System call themselves a ‘reggae’ band and is fronted by a white woman, which is already a mess. But I’mma park that for now, because it’s not the twist. The twist is that many are questioning the validity of Artikal Sound System’s claims, because nobody is able to find an upload or any form of timestamped performance of the song which predates the release of Duolingo’s “Levitating”. And some are calling the timing suspect, because Artikal Sound System have a new album on the way. Musician and TikToker Mathias Morte did a whole video which goes through each of these things, in addition to how both “Levitating” and this white ‘reggae’ band’s song share a similar melody line to one which features in OutKast’s 1998 song “Rosa Parks” anyway.

All of this is great press for Artikal Sound System, because no song they’ve ever put out has gotten them publicity quite like this.

If this does turn out to be a hoax, then Artikal Sound System should be ashamed at crying wolf to sell a few copies of a new album. If not, then Duolingo and co. should be ashamed for pinching the work of a lesser known group, anybody for that matter.

We’ll see how this all pans out.

Arkital Sound System can’t seriously be dumb enough to make these allegations unless they have proof they did record their song prior to the release of “Levitating”. Then again *Gesture* Look around us.

On a slightly different, but relevant note, Dua Lipa along with “Levitating” co-writer and producer Stephen Kozmeniuk featured on the podcast series Song Exploder to pick apart how the song came together. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a Duolingo fan or just a fan of “Levitating”.

---

💿 Album review: Future Nostalgia
🎛️ ?J Mashup: Dua Lipa x Ollie King / Hideki Naganuma