By Baylee Weaver, Newswire Intern

Stella Lefty, the new country artist most known for her song “Boston,” is using aspects of already released and popular songs to benefit her own career.

There is a fine line between inspiration and straight up plagiarism. In the music world, this line is consistently debated over no matter what genre. For example, Olivia Rodrigo was sued by Taylor Swift and her team for her song, “1 step forward, 3 steps back” piano cords sounding too much like Swift’s piano in her song “New Years Day.” Swift and other artists who worked on her songs were then added to the credits of Rodrigo’s.

In many cases like this, the accuser is typically credited in the song after a similarity is pointed out to the public. This usually only happens to one or two songs by a new artist.

In the case of Lefty, six of her songs have been called out either by other artists or the public for sounding too similar to pre-existing hits.

The similarities started to become viral as the internet dissected the track titled, “Boston.” Prior to the song being released, Lefty posted a snippet to TikTok of her singing the track. Immediately, the internet began pointing out how similar the song sounded to Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season,” which was released in 2022.

Kahan’s team immediately acted, reaching out to Lefty to resolve the similarities. “Boston” is now one of the two Lefty songs where another artist was added to the credits based on similarities.

Although “Boston” was the first, five other artists have been burdened with Lefty’s alleged plagiarism.

Lefty’s song “Why Wouldn’t We” has been compared to Blake Shelton’s “I’ll Name the Dogs” for its similar rhythmic and narrative structures.  

“Misery” has been compared to “A Million Dreams” from the musical, “The Greatest Showman,” a complete switch from her usual country borrowing to the pop genre.

This October, artists Shaylen and TAELA have also recently come forward on TikTok to publicly accuse Lefty’s track “Badly” of sounding identical to their 2024 single “WATCH THIS.”

Some Lefty fans have come out saying that she is just “finding her sound,” or that she is “still new to this.” Being a new artist can explain mistakes, but it does not excuse repeatedly relying on similarities to already successful songs.

The lesser evil turns into the greater when you have been called out by fans or artists, six separate times, for six different songs. One accusation might be dismissed as a coincidence, but six separate accusations raise a larger question about the originality of Lefty’s music.

 It becomes theft when every new song that an artist puts out has obvious similarities to not only songs in the same genre, but also songs across genres. Lefty allegedly stole from a wide range of genres, from the early 2000s to alternative rock to musical theater.

Whether intentional or not, repeatedly using familiar melodies, rhythms and narratives raises the question of whether Lefty is developing her own sound or relying on formulas that have already proven successful. At some point, a new artist must figure out their own sound, something that listeners will hear and recognize as “Stella Lefty.”

There is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from industry leaders. In fact, it is encouraged in most cases. However, this admiration should inspire originality, not possible theft.