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The Other Voice of The “Harlem Shake” Wants to Get Paid


March 11, 2013 | Andy Cush

Last month, we found out that ANIMAL-favorite artist Jayson Musson aka Hennesy Youngman was the voice of the “Do the Harlem Shake” sample behind Baauer’s inescapable hit. Thanks to some reporting by the New York Timeswe now know that the track’s other vocal sample–the “con los terroristas!” one–comes from former reggaeton artist (and current evangelical preacher) Hector Delgado, aka Hector el Father. Both men, understandably, are now seeking compensation from Baauer’s label, Mad Decent.

Though Musson’s talks with Mad Decent and its boss, Diplo, have been cooperative, Delgado seems more threatened. “Hector will get what he deserves,” said Javier Gomez, Hector El Father’s former manager. “We can turn around and stop that song. That’s a clear breaking of intellectual property rights.”

Below is “Maldades,” the Hector El Father track from which Baauer grabbed the sample. “Con los terroristas!” comes at about 20 seconds in.