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I’ve been pursuing Michael Franti and his management to put us on the bill and open for him for about 5 years now. I even met Michael in person at the Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco and handed him a CD of my latest album. Prior to that I went to his concert in SD and handed both his engineer and merch guy CDs of Reggae Rock Hop with the request that they give it to Michael after the concert. Of course Reggae Rock Hop was my second album, which featured a track called “I’m Alive” when I was using the band moniker Shaka Buku.

Since I’m a subscriber of Franti’s Youtube channel, I got an email a week ago  asking fans to contribute to his new video for his new song “I’m Alive.”  So of course I go listen to the song and guess what… its got some striking similarities to my version.  But before I publicly claim this guy ripped me off with no credit whatsoever, I’ve given him the benefit of the doubt and emailed his management with a request to respond to possibilities of copyright infringement. Of course I’ve heard nothing back again.

Now here is the real thing that gets me. I’m a professional musician just like him and we both are cause oriented with deep passion for peace on the planet. We both are in the yoga community although he’s not an instructor. My music one day will be embraced by this community on a large scale and I’m totally convinced of that. So when I personally reached out to this guy with two of my CDs over a few year period of time attempting to join forces  and not once did he acknowledge me through twitter, Facebook, email or phone, I began to wonder if  this guy was  just in it for himself.  Or maybe he was intimidated by me and saw me as competition, which is even more revealing of small mindedness.

Regardless, I’d like you to be the judge and let me know with a comment below.  Pay special attention to the similarity in the chorus.
Chad Scott’s  Version of I’m Alive (formerly Shaka Buku)

Michael Franti’s Version of I’m Alive

Please comment below:  Is this a coincidence or should I pursue and demand credit?

Thanks and lots of love, Chad