Jason Derulo and South Auckland teen producer Jawsh 685 have broken their silence about the official release of their new track, which was born out of controversy when the US pop star initially used the high schooler's beat without credit.
In their respective Instagram posts, the pair made it clear they had moved on from any beef between them, with Derulo announcing "now is a time to come together", while Jawsh 685 declared "onwards and upwards".
The international music drama began when Manurewa High School student's Jawsh 685's homemade beat 'Laxed' blew up on TikTok, gaining millions of listens before being discovered by Derulo.
In the words of an industry insider who spoke to Variety last month, Derulo "went rogue", adding his lyrics to Jawsh 685's melody without permission and premiering his version of the song, titled 'Savage Love', on his own TikTok account.
Jawsh 685 went on to describe the two as having "unfinished business" in his first radio interview, saying that he and the platinum-selling artist had messaged back and forth but never came to an official agreement.
While the 17-year-old producer was publicly celebrating his new record deal with Columbia, it appears that a resolution with Derulo was taking place behind the scenes.
The collaborative track appeared on streaming services just after 12am on Thursday morning and has delighted fans of both artists, particularly those of Jawsh 685 who campaigned for him to receive credit for his song.
"You won the fight good job," read one YouTube comment on Jawsh 685's VEVO page.
"Been holding off on listening to his [Jason Derulo's] version. Glad I can now and hopefully my uso benefits from it," said another.
"Well deserved bro, get the recognition you deserve, Leeeeesgoooooo," wrote a third.
