plagiarism

Shia LaBeouf Appears to Have Plagiarized His ‘Freestyle’ Rap

Oops. Photo: D Dipasupil/Getty Images

By now you’ve probably heard that Shia LaBeouf, in his spare time, likes to battle-rap. You’ve also probably heard that Shia has a bit of a history of plagiarism. Now that his Transformers-referencing freestyle has gone viral, rap group the Anomolies are calling him out for jacking their lyrics without credit. In a post on Instagram, one of the group’s members says, “You can’t rip songs from my Anomolies crew, recite them in a freestyle as your own, get credit for it, then not expect to be called out by actual MCs!” She says that one line in particular (“I reckon you want more of that rare commodity / The quality is what it’s got to be / And my philosophy is much farther than what your eyes can see”) comes straight from the group’s 1999 song “Perfectionist.” She’s right, he copies it almost verbatim. However, in Shia’s defense, there’s nothing that suggests the lyrics he’s spitting are actually his. But going by today’s rap standards, having a pre-written (or, in his case, thought-out) freestyle actually makes Shia LaBeouf even more of a real rapper than we ever considered. Looks like Shia did his homework.

Shia LaBeouf Accused of Stealing ‘Freestyle’ Rap