Ed Sheeran Finally Admits That “Shape Of You” Uses TLC’s “No Scrubs” Melody

Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” just spent another week atop the Billboard Hot 100—it’s spent seven weeks there since its January release. Over the weekend, legendary songwriter (and Real Housewives Of Atlanta star) Kandi Burruss posted a video on Instagram celebrating the song’s success and revealing that she and Temeka Cottle (a.k.a. Tiny Harris) are now listed on the song credits, according to ASCAP.

The former Xscape members received retroactive songwriting credits on Sheeran’s new No. 1 hit along with Kevin “She'kspere” Briggs, the writer and producer behind TLC’s 1999 smash hit record “No Scrubs.” It sounds like the “Shape of You” hook is a melodic interpolation of the TLC hit record’s chorus.

Back when “Shape Of You” was released in January 2017, Sheeran, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac were as the song’s only songwriters. Almost immediately, some fans were immediately reminded of TLC’s No. 1 hit “No Scrubs,” which Burruss, Briggs, and Cottle wrote back in the ‘90s.

Some fans went as far to do medleys of the songs together:

Over the weekend, Burruss posted an Instagram video thanking Sheeran for letting her and Cottle share the success:

Not long after, Cottle posted a video of herself on Instagram dancing to the song and sharing a similar sentiment:

Last year, Sheeran faced a similar issue with his 2014 Grammy-winning song “Thinking Out Loud.” He was sued for allegedly copying Marvin Gaye’s classic hit “Let’s Get it On” on the track. That case is still pending.

You can read all the lyrics to “Shape Of You” on Genius now.