Aussie artist Plini claims Doja Cat ripped off his work for ‘Say So’ performance

Doja Cat performed a campy, djenty rendition of her 2019 hit ‘Say So’ at the MTV Europe Music Awards earlier this week and the performance caught the attention of Australian guitarist Plini Roessler-Holgate, who couldn’t help but notice a striking similarity between the thunderous guitar solo at the 2:50 mark of her performance, and his 2016 track ‘Handmade Cities.’

As the performance from Doja Cat reached the highest echelons of virility, Plini took to Twitter to muse, “Someone tell [Doja Cat] that if she digs the arrangement of this at 2:50 onwards, then she would love my song ‘Handmade Cities’.”

someone tell @DojaCat that if she digs the arrangement of this at 2:50 onwards, then she would love my song “handmade cities” 🙃https://t.co/jkAKCFSVf7

— Plini (@plinirh) November 9, 2020

In a follow up post shared to Instagram on Wednesday, November 11th. Plini praised Doja Cat for her performance but noted that he would have appreciated communication and credit prior to its release. The post featured a comparison between Plini’s 2016 track and the appropriated riff from the performance, and, well, the proof is in the pudding.

“In case you missed it, @dojacat ‘s recent performance of “say so” for MTV borrowed a few elements from my song ‘handmade cities’ for its new live arrangement. I think it’s an awesome performance… and more than anything, find it absolutely hilarious that something I wrote 4 years ago in my bedroom would find its way here,” Roessler-Holgate wrote.

“The lack of prior communication about it or proper credit upon release is disappointing but not particularly surprising in a sector of the industry that is usually more interested in clout than creativity. (it’s being sorted now, but would have been cooler a million views ago).”

View this post on Instagram

in case you missed it, @dojacat ‘s recent performance of “say so” for MTV borrowed a few elements from my song “handmade cities” for its new live arrangement. i think it’s an awesome performance (shout out to the homie @laribasilio – sick playing!) and more than anything, find it absolutely hilarious that something i wrote 4 years ago in my bedroom would find its way here. the lack of prior communication about it or proper credit upon release is disappointing but not particularly surprising in a sector of the industry that is usually more interested in clout than creativity. (it’s being sorted now, but would have been cooler a million views ago) if you read this far, and are new to my music, you can preorder my upcoming album from the link in my bio. in the words of @iamdarionjavon – you’ve never heard me produce/arrange ANYthing like this before 😈🤟🔥

A post shared by Plini (@plini) on Nov 10, 2020 at 6:56pm PST

At the time of writing, Doja Cat and her representatives have yet to issue a statement in response to Plini’s claims.

On Friday November 27th, Plini will release his long-awaited second album, Impulse Voices. 

Check out ‘I’ll Tell You Someday’ by Plini:

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