SETE’s Originality Called Into Question?

Is K.O a plagiarist or is the producer to blame?

By  | Jan 17, 2023, 11:14 AM  | K. O  | Drama

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K.O’s SETE has been affirmed as the biggest song to have been released in 2023. During its high praise and profile run in the past year, the uniqueness of the single was something that K.O was lauded for. This is as K.O’s versatility was lauded in terms of his ability to continually reinvent his sound.

Read more: Ntsiki Mazwai Thinks SETE Is Overated
 
However, with the return of Podcast and Chill with MacG, Sol Phenduka and Ghost Lady. What was initially just murmurs of plagiarism have since turned into a full on discussion as to whether K.O “stole” the song or whether it is the producer that was to blame for the many iterations of the hit single. 

SETE’s originality called into question? 

The first time that South Africans were first introduced to SETE by K.O featuring Blxckie and Young Stunna was when K.O released the single as his lead single back in August 2022. The single was the first official release for his most recent studio album SR3 which was released officially in September 2022.
However, for music lovers, before SETE, the beat of the single was heard through NIgerian artist, Reefer Tym’s Feeling You.​​ The single was part of the string of singles released by the musician in 2022. However, it was officially released by the artist in April 2022. 
But for music lovers who are into niche music genres, the beat was used even earlier than Reefer’s use in April 2022. The first time that the beat was used was for the proclaimed King of Venda Rap, Mizo Phyll. As part of his sophomore album, the artist had a 23-track album with a song titled Tshetshi, featuring JR Player which had the exact same beat. 
As the matter has come to social media as a discourse of whether or not K.O “copied” the beat. There are comments which have called out K.O for allegedly being a copycat. 
For the most part however, the general consensus has called out the producer. This is as one comment has gone to suggest that producer, Callie Majk, drops beats on YouTube. The beats can be used by artists. However, the difference was that K.O reached out to the producer and credited him for the beat.
This being unlike Reefer Tym and Mizo Phyll, who allegedly did not credit Malik. As such, it would seem that K.O was the most careful of the three to have used the beat ethically by crediting Malik. 
SETE extends its record 

While the debate on the originality of the song is currently at a level high. That does not mean that SETE is still not breaking its own record. This is as the single continues to extend its Radio Monitor history breaking run. 

Recently, Radio Monitor went to social media to confirm that SETE has now been the number one song across all radio stations in South Africa for the 19th week in a row. This extends the record it has held before with an additional week at the top.
Moreover, with no songs having major releases locally just yet as the New Year is yet to be in full swing. SETE might just extend its lead again in the coming week with an additional week included as part of its record breaking running streak. 


Image credit: ZAlebs 
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