Hugely respected Detroit producer Theo Parrish railed against ‘the bullshit illusion that dance music has no race, no gender, that it’s about the celebration of some sort of utopian concept’, this week in a no holds barred tirade against ‘white artists with labels’ stealing ideas from black producers.

“(Underground dance music) is one of the few places a thief will try to copy your music, then send it to you calling it a tribute in hopes of you endorsing it,” he told Detroit portal Moodmat.com. “They’ll find the sources of your samples if you use them, and use them verbatim, then try to cash in on your previous successes… The thieves, usually white, are typically the culprits of this phenomena,” he added.

His views reflected those of Detroit pioneer Derrick May who, chatting to Skrufff several years ago, admitted feeling highly ambiguous about producers making cover versions of his signature electronic anthem Strings Of Life. “They’re profiteers at the end of the day, whether they’re good people or bad people, fans, people saying this song has changed my life, whatever; they’re all profiteers. It’s about business,” Derrick complained.

“When a great athlete comes along everybody wants him for the team, not just so he or she can help them win but also because they can bring in fans. Doing a cover is business, it’s a money-making venture and when people see an open window they want to jump in,” he went on to explain. “The song (Strings Of Life) has never disappeared completely, young kids have discovered it, they don’t know the original version, so people see an opportunity to obliterate the original with these new versions, in the process of making some money. It’s going to happen,” he surmised.