Matthew Koma has finally decided to come clean about what happened between him and Zedd. The two worked together on “Spectrum” and “Clarity”, two big hits that helped catapult Zedd into the mainstream. According to Koma, the relationship was toxic with Zedd slowly pushing him out and taking credit for all his work. Koma begins with the short of it. The fame went to Zedd’s head.
In response to years of: “What happened with you & Zedd”. 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…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. It’s not that dramatic of a story and it comes down to something simple. Shitty people suck and when they’re successful, people are afraid to blow the whistle.
Koma says they met as “equals” but Zedd had an inferiority complex which lead to him taking credit for his work and not paying him. Koma also implies Zedd uses ghost producers now.
I met Anton before he signed to Interscope – we were put together to work on songs for his record – 2 of which became his first singles. Spectrum and Clarity. We met as “equals”. From the beginning, his inferiority complex was made obvious (which seemed so absurd, because his contributions were so wonderful and he was a very talented producer back when he was involved in his productions.) 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 insisting it was released as “ZEDD” with another featured singer or I couldn’t have it. I had to wait 4 years to put a different version out. Writing “Find You” with him in Japan and him actively telling me he didn’t want my voice on the song, but since it was recorded literally on Christmas to meet a deadline, maybe it was hard to find someone I guess ? Mind you, This is after I wrote 3 of his four first singles and helped I him have one of the biggest songs of that year. I had to talk him out of keeping my voice on Clarity pitched up, because it sounded like a remix.
Koma even pushed for Zedd to find a female singer for “Clarity” so it’d sound more original. When it was nominated for a Grammy, he wasn’t invited. In fact, he wasn’t invited to anything anymore.
I encouraged him to find a female singer who could really nail it. We tracked several singers on it before Foxes killed it. I wanted it to be great for him. He won a Grammy for it – I wasn’t invited. There’s a documentary about “the making of zedd ” (1o1) and I was the only collaborator not invited to the premier or asked to be interviewed for the movie. More or less, I was just brushed under the rug while he took all the credit / which felt confusing because the millions of people who connected to Clarity and those other songs , seemed to connect to the lyrics / emotion / melodies I had written. But he deemed his Kick Drum sound the driving force and left me out of all shared credit. I remember doing a tv show with him when I was sick and asked him to lower the key of the song so I could sing it well, and he refused because “his track wouldn’t sound good”.
He also says Zedd’s persona of a “genius classical pianist” is a scam.
Another similar instance where he refused to change the key and I came to find out it was because he could only play piano in the key of C and the keyboard wouldn’t transpose. Sort of contradicted the whole “genius classical pianist” persona. For years I thought maybe it was me , but over time, I’d run into other people who worked with him -other writers / singers / producers/ Dj’s / People on his own team…and the sentiment was shared. He’s the worst.
Koma ends with some digs at Zedd saying he no longer produces his own music.
With millions and millions of dollars and so many hit songs , you’d think you could afford to treat people with kindness and appreciate their role in helping you achieve your dream. Those songs allowed me the opportunity to work with so many electronic producers and artists and there are so many incredible people who work so hard at their craft. I could make a way bigger list of Dj’s I worked with who made me feel valuable and treated me with mutual respect. Some seriously great people in that world who I’m so grateful to have met. Anyway, this isn’t a unique story. Ego, success , it’s all happened and been told before. Especially in the context of music. But for those always wondering why there was never more music from the two of us , it wasn’t really my choice. Now, two of us , it wasn’t really my choice. Now, He has plenty of people to write his songs and produce his tracks and help him continue on his trajectory. But I rather work at Starbucks and clean the toilets than ever experience that abusive dynamic again. Toxicity doesn’t breed happiness. Alexa , play “Happy Now”. Actually please don’t.
So maybe this explains why Zedd has played the same set for the last 3 years. I’m not saying he can’t read and adapt to a crowd, but this post from Matthew Koma isn’t convincing me otherwise. This also gives makes the Diplo feud with Zedd a little more interesting.
People come to my shows to hear my catalogue of music. Obviously I'm gonna play my songs every night. They take up the majority of my set :)
— Zedd (@Zedd) July 24, 2017
Don’t worry. Zedd will be alright though. When people start turning on him, he can turn one of the rooms in his $16 million mansion into a special “cry” room where he wipes his tears with a tissue box filled with $100 bills.