Last week we finally heard from Iggy Azalea again, in the form of new single “Savior.” It’s a nu-pop take on Lisa Stansfield’s 1989 hit “All Around the World,” featuring Migos‘ Quavo, and an attempt to get the singer back in the spotlight after a couple years of label trouble. But one name in the credits raised a few eyebrows.
As Spin notes, fans started questioning why the name Lukasz Gottwald was attached to the song’s co-writing credits on Spotify, Tidal, and Genius. Gottwald, aka Dr. Luke, is the producer accused by Kesha of sexual assault, which resulted in a lawsuit and Kesha being trapped in her contract with Sony. Azalea addressed those concerns in a now-deleted tweet, claiming that the song was produced by two people—Cirkut and MHL—who have “production agreements with Luke,” but that she and Gottwald did not work together.
Spotify recently added songwriting and producer credits to the desktop app, while Tidal already listed them. On Tidal, the producer credits list Cirkut and “Manhun Glow,” with Gottwald named as a composer. Spotify lists him as a writer. Cirkut comes up in Google searches and there are articles about his work with Dr. Luke; he signed to his production company Prescription Songs in 2008. Manhun Glow does not come up in Google searches beyond its association with “Savior.” Read as “Man Hung Low,” that could be the “kid” Azalea references in the tweet, but it’s still a mysterious edit and terrible pseudonym. (And not a fun Google search!) ASCAP still lists Gottwald as a writer.
Last spring Azalea released the single “Mo Bounce” but just a few months later she tweeted about her upcoming album Digital Distortion being roadblocked by Def Jam. She’s needed a comeback to 2014’s “Fancy” and it’s possible that “Savior” was already written and then given to Azalea, as is often practice in the pop music world, or that it was punched up by other songwriters since the song has apparently existed for at least a year. However, Azalea has said “Savior” is “pretty personal” and that she wrote it in a “really heavy period in my life.” The single got prime placement during the Super Bowl and some Shazam love.
We’ve reached out to Prescription Songs for comment.
H/T Spin