Kanye West and Kid Cudi made their live debut of the duet project “Kids See Ghosts” this weekend in Los Angeles—with a set design allegedly stolen from Lorde.
The performance was met by criticism, specifically from Lorde, who claimed that the “Kids See Ghost” stage design was an uncredited replica of her own.
https://twitter.com/ToveLover12/status/1062087535785054214
Lorde posted a series of photos to her Instagram story from her “Melodrama” tour on Monday and the Kids See Ghosts set, both featuring a floating glass box with electric colors. “I’m so proud of the work I do and it’s flattering when other artists feel inspired by it, to the extent that they choose to try it on themselves,” Lorde wrote on the last photo, from her own tour. “But don’t ever try to steal – not from women or anyone else.”
The annual Camp Flog Gnaw is a music festival created and hosted by rapper Tyler, the Creator; 2018 also featured ASAP Rocky, the Internet, SZA, and Jaden Smith.
One Reddit user pointed out that West and Lorde share a stage designer named Es Devlin, who has not commented on the controversy. Fans have expressed support for the all artists involved, some arguing that West has used the floating stage concept before.
But didn’t she steal the floating stage idea from Kanye from his saint Pablo tour then? pic.twitter.com/dsDYwDhuQ3
— playboi icardi (@playboi_icard1) November 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/Swvred/status/1062090030045376512
https://twitter.com/kyleg182/status/1062011576469860352
lorde going from being heavily inspired by kanye’s originality to him stealing her original stage concept goes to show that women are the future
— little love maker (@playthembunny) November 12, 2018
It’s not the first time West has been accused of stealing ideas. When the rapper visited the White House, he presented a 6-year-old idea for an iPlane 1 as his own. A Yeezus campaign this summer was also criticized for reappropriating fashion design.
West and Kid Cudi have not responded to Lorde’s accusations.