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LISTEN: Cece Peniston accuses Lizzo of ripping off her ’90s hit ‘Finally’

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Cece Peniston, whose 1992 club hit “Finally” reserves her a place on any gay dance floor in perpetuity, has accused Lizzo of ripping off the song.

Peniston says a portion of “Finally” is too close for comfort to part of Lizzo’s 2019 song “Juice,” and our close analysis (aka playing it 5 times and conducting an office poll) yields polarized results.

Some think the sections are closely related, while others have a reaction that is best expressed by this commenter:

“Did [Peniston] become an astronaut after [she] stopped singing? Cause the reach on this post is astronomical.”

The referenced post comes directly from Peniston’s official Instagram account.

Peniston wrote:

this video and this is a clear example of #copyrightinfringement Cece Peniston versus @lizzobeeating y’all check this out and btw I love her music

Listen to the two sections below:

This marks the second time this month Lizzo has been on the receiving end of plagiarism accusations.

Producer Justin Raisen recently accused Lizzo of using a line that he, Lizzo, Jeremiah Raisen, songwriter Jesse Saint John, and producer/songwriter Yves Rothman wrote for a demo titled “Healthy” on “Truth Hurts” without properly giving credit.

The line — “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 percent that bitch” — wound up being something of a calling card for Lizzo, so we can understand why the stakes are so high.

Raisen posted receipts to Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

The Truth about “Truth Hurts” On April 11th, 2017, we wrote a song called “Healthy” w/ Lizzo, Jesse St John, and Yves Rothman at our studio. “I just took a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch” was taken from “Healthy” and used in “Truth Hurts”. We were never contacted about being credited for the use of the parts of “Healthy” (melody, lyrics, and chords) that appear in “Truth Hurts”. After reaching out to Ricky Reed and Lizzo’s team about fixing it, we put the song in dispute in 2017 when it came out. We’ve tried to sort this out quietly for the last two years, only asking for 5% each but were shutdown every time. Coming forward publicly to family, friends, artists, and colleagues seems to be the only way at this point in relieving some of our emotional distress caused by this. The last thing we want to do is throw any negativity toward Lizzo’s momentum and movement as a cultural figure. If we believe in what she’s preaching, believing in ourselves & our own voices is something we thought she’d understand. Shout out to the singer Mina Lioness ( @minalioness ) for tweeting “I just did a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch”. A meme of that came up in our writing session & inspired the lyric and melody we wrote together. If Ricky and Lizzo’s team decide to settle this dispute with us, we would like to share some of the proceeds with Mina for her influence on Healthy. The clip below shows a video & photos from the day we wrote “Healthy” along with the comparisons between the two works. All the Love, Justin & Jeremiah Raisen #lizzo #truthhurts #healthy #billboard

A post shared by Justin Raisen (@justinraisen) on

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