A rapper from Dundee says Eminem could have taken inspiration from his album, after spotting a number of coincidences.
Darren Stewart, who raps under the name Zee the Dungeonous, says he released an album titled Music to be Murdered By on 17 January 2015.
Fast-forward five years to the very day and Eminem dropped his album, also titled Music to be Murdered By - and the similarities don't stop there.
Advert
Taking to Twitter Stewart wrote that as well as the same title and release date, both albums featured samples from Alfred Hitchcock. Weird, eh?
Speaking to the Evening Telegraph, Stewart said: "When I heard the Hitchcock samples, the same title and release date I did start to get a little freaked out.
"He is one of my idols and it could well be a coincidence, but you do hear stories of richer artists with louder fan bases getting away with that sort of thing."
Advert
But if you think Stewart is p***** off with Eminem then you're wrong, because he says if the rapper did get inspiration from his album he'd be 'flattered'.
He added: "I've tweeted Eminem about it and also contacted Bizarre. I wouldn't say I was annoyed, if it's straight-up coincidence then I would be amazed.
"He is a hero of mine and if it's not a coincidence I'm genuinely flattered by it all."
To add an even weirder twist to this already quite bizarre story, Stewart and Eminem - real name Marshall Mathers - have a mutual acquaintance in the form of D12 band member Bizarre.
Advert
Stewart told the newspaper he and Bizarre met after a gig in Glasgow back in 2008 and the Dundee rapper asked him to make a guest appearance on one of his tracks, which Bizarre agreed to.
The song, which was released two years before he released Music to be Murdered By which was called Murder Zee Wrote.
Twenty-seven-year old Stewart reckons this could be the link, explaining: "We have our connections to D12 and it doesn't put it too far out of the realm of possibility that Eminem, through Bizarre, heard my track, dug for the sample I used, and took the concept."
Advert
Stewart has tweeted Eminem but is yet to receive a response.
A spokeswoman for Polydor Records, when asked whether it wished to respond to Mr Stewart's allegations, said: 'Unfortunately not'.
