The Toronto native did what any self-respecting rapper would do and got on the line with SOHH.com with his thoughts:
I know Chamillionaire has probably never heard of me, but my video has been all over Much Music and [Canada's] "RapCity." It just recently won a nationwide video competition. It's well known, when it came out, it was very innovative.
...Music videos are kind of redundant right now so it's not a shock to have similarities. But when you have a video like mine where it's so creative -- in the video I'm transforming into a white person delivering the news with the makeup, prosthetics and the wig -- there's a split screen where I'm talking to myself, going back and forth doing a dialogue -- all those things?
Chamillionaire, for his part, claimed to have never heard Seazon's "The Reporter."
I never heard of it. When 'Turn it Up' came out, somebody said I stole that. I don't copy people, I'm a very creative person. I've never had to steal from somebody. If anything, if I know something has already been done I will steer away from it.
Let's all take the Pepsi Challenge, shall we?
Seazon's "The Reporter"
Chamillionaire's "Evening News"
Alright dudes, let's chill with the pissing match over who's more creative and agree that all parties here owe a debt to Dave Chapelle, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and any comic who's ever done "white guy voice;" Anchorman; the coninent-spanning reach of Bill O'Reilly's arrogance and Kent Brockman.
Ahem.
Finally, in maybe the story's best twist, SOHH points out that "The Reporter" helped win Seazon a recording contract with Universal Canada last year. Chamillionaire, as I'm sure you've now guessed, is signed to Universal's stateside wing.
Let the interoffice memo wars commence.
