Ghostwriting Scandals We Can't Forget

Who you gonna call? Ghostwriters!

Who You Gonna Call? Ghostwriters! - Hip hop and ghostwriters: it’s a combination that fans dare not think about. For a music genre that was built to be a direct link between what artists think, feel, and say, authenticity is a must. Any mention of the “g” word can ruin reputations and futures. Some of these ghostwriting scandals ended up being rumors, some went unchecked, and others might just be claims from salty ex-collaborators. Still, there’s nothing like a ghostwriting scandal in the ever dramatic world of hip hop. After 2015 gave us a very noteworthy predicament including one superstar artist beefing with a well-known rapper and a third party ghostwriter, let's take a look back at some other major ghosts in the machine. —Jon Reyes(Photos from Left: Scott Gries/Getty Images, Noel Vasquez/Getty Images for Hennessy, Gareth Davies/Getty Images)

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Who You Gonna Call? Ghostwriters! - Hip hop and ghostwriters: it’s a combination that fans dare not think about. For a music genre that was built to be a direct link between what artists think, feel, and say, authenticity is a must. Any mention of the “g” word can ruin reputations and futures. Some of these ghostwriting scandals ended up being rumors, some went unchecked, and others might just be claims from salty ex-collaborators. Still, there’s nothing like a ghostwriting scandal in the ever dramatic world of hip hop. After 2015 gave us a very noteworthy predicament including one superstar artist beefing with a well-known rapper and a third party ghostwriter, let's take a look back at some other major ghosts in the machine. —Jon Reyes(Photos from Left: Scott Gries/Getty Images, Noel Vasquez/Getty Images for Hennessy, Gareth Davies/Getty Images)

Kanye West / Consequence - It’s public knowledge that Chicago rapper Consequence has publicly lent his pen to Kanye's tracks (just check the songwriting credits). In 2011, Cons went on record to claim that Kanye had taken lyrics and not credited him, most specifically for “Champion,” a track off Kanye’s third album, Graduation. (Photos from Left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images For 102.7 KIIS FM's Wango Tango, Scott Wintrow/Getty Images)

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Kanye West / Consequence - It’s public knowledge that Chicago rapper Consequence has publicly lent his pen to Kanye's tracks (just check the songwriting credits). In 2011, Cons went on record to claim that Kanye had taken lyrics and not credited him, most specifically for “Champion,” a track off Kanye’s third album, Graduation. (Photos from Left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images For 102.7 KIIS FM's Wango Tango, Scott Wintrow/Getty Images)

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Iggy Azalea / Skeme - Poor Iggy. The Australian rapper hasn’t been able to catch a break since her ascent into the pop charts. Of course ghostwriting rumors and claims would start to snowball for someone as divisive as Iggy. Let’s just flash back to when Nicki threw major shade when accepting her BET Award for Female Rapper, even though she later stated it wasn’t about Iggy.Hard evidence came in this past March when rapper Skeme told Sway, "We had something to do with it, a lot of vibe, a lot of push. We put trust funds up for that song." Nothing else was said, nothing else was heard. (Photos from Left: Jason Merritt/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

Nas / Jay Electronica / Dead Prez - This one was a doozy. It all started when a fan asked why Jay Z hadn’t made a thought provoking album like Nas’s Untitled, leaving journalist Dream Hampton to respond on Twitter, “I think Jay writes what he believes. Nas' ‘N****r’ album was largely written by Stic of dead prez and Jay Electronica.”Nas and Jay Electronica flat out denied the claim. Stic elaborated more on the process, “My contributions to his album was a collaboration and an honor and under his direction of what he wanted to convey and say.” (Photos from Left: Kimberly White/Getty Images for Hennessy, Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

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Nas / Jay Electronica / Dead Prez - This one was a doozy. It all started when a fan asked why Jay Z hadn’t made a thought provoking album like Nas’s Untitled, leaving journalist Dream Hampton to respond on Twitter, “I think Jay writes what he believes. Nas' ‘N****r’ album was largely written by Stic of dead prez and Jay Electronica.”Nas and Jay Electronica flat out denied the claim. Stic elaborated more on the process, “My contributions to his album was a collaboration and an honor and under his direction of what he wanted to convey and say.” (Photos from Left: Kimberly White/Getty Images for Hennessy, Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

Drake / Quentin Miller - Meek Mill put Drake on blast this past summer when Meek stated, “[Drake] don’t write his own raps! That’s why he ain’t tweet my album because we found out!” Then Funkmaster Flex aired a reference track for “10 Bands” in which Quentin Miller could be heard rapping.Quentin’s response was a pretty adamant one and put the whole issue to rest, “I’m proud to say we’ve collaborated but I could never take credit for anything other than the few songs we worked on together.” (Photos from Left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella, Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

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Drake / Quentin Miller - Meek Mill put Drake on blast this past summer when Meek stated, “[Drake] don’t write his own raps! That’s why he ain’t tweet my album because we found out!” Then Funkmaster Flex aired a reference track for “10 Bands” in which Quentin Miller could be heard rapping.Quentin’s response was a pretty adamant one and put the whole issue to rest, “I’m proud to say we’ve collaborated but I could never take credit for anything other than the few songs we worked on together.” (Photos from Left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella, Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

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Hit-Boy / Glass John - Songwriter Glass John, who at this moment officially has a couple of songwriting credits with Chris Brown and Pusha T, claims to have written a track on Rihanna’s upcoming album called Kiss It Better. In a long Twitter rant (and Instagram posts) he also claims to have ghostwritten tracks for producer Hit-Boy. Glass stated on Instagram, tagging Hit-Boy, “You know I could sue you but I am bigger than that. Plus the amount of money you've made off 'N***as in Paris' isn't worth it to me.”Unrelated to the ghostwriting claims, he also claimed Travis Scott was behind Anti’s delay and that he legally wed Rihanna. Um, we’re gonna assume none of this is true.(Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIDAL)

Ol’ Dirty Bastard / RZA and GZA - Seven years after ODB’s death, Method Man went on record to say that old '80s rhymes by GZA and RZA made up ODB’s debut, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version. After the initial claims were made, no one really came out to refute them. (Photos from Left: Scott Gries/Getty Images, Stephen Lovekin/FilmMagic)

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Ol’ Dirty Bastard / RZA and GZA - Seven years after ODB’s death, Method Man went on record to say that old '80s rhymes by GZA and RZA made up ODB’s debut, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version. After the initial claims were made, no one really came out to refute them. (Photos from Left: Scott Gries/Getty Images, Stephen Lovekin/FilmMagic)

Will Smith / Nas - This one isn’t so much a scandal as a big Internet misunderstanding. It was sort of an urban legend that Nas wrote on the song and didn’t get credit for it. During a social media question-and-answer session in 2014, Nas put it all to rest, “Alright, let's clear this up once and for all. I hung out with Will in the studio. And watched him write it. It was a fun studio session, and I said a line or two or three to him. It wasn't that serious. Will Smith wrote that song. But seriously, I watched him have fun making that record on his own, and Will is a true MC.” (Photos from Left: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images, Kimberly White/Getty Images for Hennessy)

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Will Smith / Nas - This one isn’t so much a scandal as a big Internet misunderstanding. It was sort of an urban legend that Nas wrote on the song and didn’t get credit for it. During a social media question-and-answer session in 2014, Nas put it all to rest, “Alright, let's clear this up once and for all. I hung out with Will in the studio. And watched him write it. It was a fun studio session, and I said a line or two or three to him. It wasn't that serious. Will Smith wrote that song. But seriously, I watched him have fun making that record on his own, and Will is a true MC.” (Photos from Left: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images, Kimberly White/Getty Images for Hennessy)