The Weeknd, Portishead Beef: Abel Tesfaye Jacks "Machine Gun" Drums For 'Kiss Land' Track, Denies Theft

Ooooh, we got a beef (and possible lawsuit brewing y'all). PBR&B star The Weeknd (nee Abel Tesfaye) recently dropped an 8-minute clip for his song "Belong To The World" off upcoming album Kiss Land. The track is built around a painfully obvious sample of the drums from the Portishead track "Machine Gun."

Now, that's all well and good, but where it gets interesting is, Geoff Barrow of Portishead claims he denied The Weeknd's request to use the sample and Tesfaye used it anyway.

@pitchforkmedia @theweeknd when someone asks to sample you and you refuse they should have the respect as a fellow artist to not use it.

— Geoff Barrow (@jetfury) July 15, 2013

Tesfaye for his part, claims that the track doesn't sample Portishead and that the track merely served as inspiration.

Via an interview with Complex (the Weeknd's first ever interview):

I heard Portishead drums on "Belong to the World."
Yeah, that was the inspiration behind that. I wrote a letter to the producers of Portishead and let them know this album is inspired by them.

The Weeknd claims that they did not directly sample "Machine Gun" and instead recorded a segment inspired by Portishead.

Via Geoff Barrow's Twitter:

"Seems the Weeknd have said there is no sample used or enough likeness to Machine Gun to warrant any infringement....or credit.... Just so you know - I am laughing at this.. Also I learned very early on that there are very few people with any morals in this industry." 

Here are the videos for comparison's sake: 

The Weeknd "Belong To The World"

(song starts at 2:30)

Portishead "Machine Gun"

What do you think? Who's in the wrong here?