Kelela’s Song With AraabMuzik Was Allegedly Released Without Her Permission

Update: Distrolord weighed in on the situation.

October 25, 2015

A photo posted by KELELA (@kelelam) on

On Friday we shared a new track from finger-drumming virtuoso AraabMuzik featuring the incredible Kelala on vocals. However, it seems like the Dream World cut "Final Hour" wasn't released in a proper manner. Kelela took to Twitter to decry the song's release by Araabmuzik's A&R Distrolord, stating that the record was dropped without her previous knowledge and that the song was a two-year-old demo.

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AraabMuzik then stated on his own Twitter that "Final Hour" was "leaked" by Distrolord and released without his approval. The producer goes on to say that his album Dream World won't be released anytime soon, and that Distrolord was also responsible for the leak of a fake version of his album Electronic Dream 2 in 2012. We've reached out to Distrolord but he did not immediately respond with a comment.

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UPDATE 10/25/15 05:08 p.m: Distrolord (real name Gustavo Guerra) has spoken to Pitchfork regarding the situation and says, "The song was done. (Kelela) asked me to send her Araab's stems so she could mix it. I said, 'I'm getting it done. We're gonna get this song done.'"

Guerra also explains how "Final Hour" came about and how he initially met Kelela. As far as AraabMuzik's reaction goes, Guerra states that Dream World is still coming out, and that he was taken aback by the producer's tweets. "Maybe he woke up to see some angry tweets at him and he reacted. AraabMuzik's my brother at the end of the day."

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Kelela’s Song With AraabMuzik Was Allegedly Released Without Her Permission