An Auckland high school student who's track went viral on TikTok has given his first ever radio interview, addressing rumours his beat was stolen by pop star Jason Derulo.
The 17-year-old music producer known as Jawsh 685 made headlines after legions of his fans criticised Jason Derulo for allegedly not crediting or paying the Manurewa High School student despite releasing a song on social media called 'Savage Love' that sampled his beat.
Derulo later tagged the teen on Instagram, saying he "killed the beat"; but Jawsh 685 has now confirmed the two musicians "never came to an official deal".
"It was a bit of unfinished business, a bit of him messaging me first, going back and forth, but we never came to an official deal," the producer told Mai FM's Morning Crew.
"People started saying 'you stole it' [to Derulo] and I didn't want to say something yet, because I didn't want to be wrong and make the wrong comment, so I just kept quiet."
Jawsh 685 added that despite the success of his song and amount of support he recieved online, he also got "a lot" of hate from people who "like Jason Derulo better than him".
The teen said that when he first received a message from Derulo he was "excited", but later got used to it and even made the platinum-selling wait for a response once or twice.
Now signed to Columbia Records, Jawsh 685 says he's bought himself a new laptop and has a bunch of unfinished beats to complete and release.
