No PLUR here. The seven-year anniversary of Zedd and Matthew Koma’s collaborative hit “Spectrum” was on June 4, but Zedd’s former collaborator had no happy memories to reminisce on in an Instagram essay he shared the next day. Matthew, 32, co-wrote two of Zedd’s earlier hits, “Clarity” (2012) and “Spectrum” (2013), and even served as lead vocals for the latter single — so, “What happened with you & Zedd?” That’s a question Hilary Duff’s fiancé answered with a number of accusations, which all essentially claimed that Zedd, 29, didn’t give Matthew the credit he deserved. “I want to finally be transparent about this..it’s a really sad truth because I’m extremely proud of the work he and I did together,” Matthew began, but added, “unfortunately my good feelings toward those songs have all but disappeared as they were experienced alongside someone so toxic and self serving that it occupied the space where any happiness could exist.”
Matthew clarified that it’s “not that dramatic of a story,” but this was his take-away: “Sh**ty people suck and when they’re successful, people are afraid to blow the whistle.” The musician then dived into his history with Zedd, beginning right before the EDM producer signed with Interscope Records in 2012. “We met as ‘equals.’ From the beginning, his inferiority complex was made obvious,” Matthew continued, although he acknowledged that Zedd was “a very talented producer” back then.
He then hit Zedd with one accusation after another, writing, “The blows started small — him giving interviews about ‘the lyrics he wrote’ (I wrote every word and melody) with no mention of my name, not being paid for singing on spectrum until 2 or 3 years of fighting for a fee, him producing a song I wrote called ‘Suitcase’ for my album then not allowing me to release it – instead releasing it as zedd with another feaured singer or I couldn’t have it. I had to wait 4 years to put a different version out.” Matthew also claimed that he wasn’t invited to the Grammy Awards in 2014, at which Zedd scooped a Grammy for their co-written track, “Clarity” (Porter Robinson and Skylar Grey also helped pen the song).
After Matthew aired more of his grievances — specific accusations that you can read in full above — he wrote, “More or less, I was just brushed under the rug while he took all the credit / which felt confusing because millions of people who connected to Clarity and those other songs , seemed to connect to the lyrics/emotions/melodies I had written.” Even though Zedd is now one of the most famous headliners in the festival circuit, his former partner declared that he’d rather clean toilets at Starbuck’s than “experience that abusive dynamic again.” HollywoodLife has reached out to Zedd’s rep for comment.
Over a thousand followers appreciated Matthew’s honest message, including his fiancée and singer Bebe Rexha. “This is so important for people who love the music to know. Writers are taken advantage of , ignored, and mistreated. Proud of you for finally speaking up ♥️,” Hilary wrote, while Bebe left a somber comment: “The unfortunate dark side of the music business.”