Lenka takes action amid "Trouble Is a Friend" parody controversy

In what looked like a comment exchange on one of Lenka Kripac's Instagram posts, the Australian singer-songwriter said her team has taken action to address the copyright infringement issue involving Filipino rising singer Shaira Moro. Lenka's response came after one "france.onz" reportedly took to her post's comment section to tell her "someone else is claiming [Lenka's song]" and is "earning from it."

Screenshot of the alleged comment exchange between one "france.onz" and pop star Lenka

The track at issue is Shaira's "Selos", which quickly blew up on TikTok after its release in November 2023. Produced by Mindanao-based entertainment agency AHS Channel, its official music video has already amassed over nine million views since December of last year. The disclaimer describes the song as a "work of parody" and "is intended for entertainment purposes only."

While the team acknowledged it used Lenka's song "Trouble Is a Friend" as a reference, it failed to obtain the required license to use its tune nor give appropriate songwriting credits to Kripac and co-writer Thomas "Tawgs" Salter in the distributed master.

Meanwhile, AHS Channel has released an official statement saying it has "voluntarily" pulled out the viral number pending an agreement with Lenka's management to make it an official cover of the singer's 2009 hit single.

"As most of you may know, the melody that we have used is originally from a song entitled 'Trouble Is a Friend' by Lenka and as of the moment, we are already in contact with her team for us to make 'Selos' an official cover," it said.

The Mindanao-based agency went on to thank those who have supported "Selos" for their positive reception of the song, which the team admittedly "did not expect to become this big" and even led to Shaira being crowned as the Queen of Bangsamoro Pop. AHS Channel ended its post by saying it hopes the public will "show [Shaira] the same love and acceptance" once the song is made available again.

Lenka is best known for the songs "The Show", "Trouble Is a Friend", and "Everything at Once". The removal of "Selos" from all streaming platforms coincided with her birthday yesterday, March 19.

Read AHS Channel's post in full below.

Sam Corrazza

Sam is a mediocre artist, musician, and the founder and editor in chief of UNXIGNED. He is a Juris Doctor who leads an excitingly boring life in the confines of his room juggling studies with passion and dreams. He is terrible at finding balance but gets by anyhow. He wants you to follow his artist pages and channels for when he decides to up his game. Pretty open for collabs and will mix your would-be hit song for cheap.