Lil Nas X Accused of Copying FKA Twigs
Lil Nas X recently released a music video for his latest song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” The video first received criticism for its depictions of Satan and Hell, which some viewers deemed offensive and disrespectful. Now, Lil Nas X is facing controversy again for the same music video, this time for what some view as copying FKA Twigs’ music video for her song “Cellophane.”
Both videos feature artful pole dancing, with both FKA Twigs and Lil Nas X descending into another world, while sliding down the pole. Twig’s video is more surreal, while Lil Nas X’s is more of a clear subversion of the Christian bible.
The director of the “Cellophane” music video Andrew Thomas Huang pointed out the similarities between the videos in a thread on twitter.
“Cellophane’ was a confession in the most vulnerable sense. “When an artist is in a position of power (amplified with the help of major record labels, social media, PR, etc) and repurposes someone’s labor and ideas to serve their brand image, they cause harm by displacing the efforts of the artists who did the original leg work,” he wrote.
Lil Nas X acknowledged the criticism on Twitter saying he had only recently discovered the similarities and expressed admiration for Twigs and her video. Twigs took to Instagram to write that she and Lil Nas X spoke on the phone and discussed the similarities between the videos. In the post she thanked Lil Nas X for acknowledging the similarities and stated her support for him as an artist. She also thanked sex workers and strippers for creating the pole dancing art form used in both videos.
“thank you @lilnasx for our gentle honest conversations and for acknowledging the inspiration cellophane gave you and your creative team in creating your iconic video!” wrote Twugs.