Lorde accuses Kanye West and Kid Cudi of stealing her glass box stage design
New Zealand singer created her fish tank-style stage with noted designer ES Devlin, who has also worked with West in the past
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kanye West and his floating stages are causing controversy once again.
The rapper has managed to draw the ire of Lorde, who has accused him and his collaborator Kid Cudi of copying her stage design after using a floating glass box during their weekend performance at Camp Flog Gnaw.
In a post on her Instagram Story, the "Green Light" singer shared an image of herself performing in front of a similar floating stage at Coachella in 2017.
"I'm 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," she wrote. "But don't steal – not from women or anyone else – not in 2018 or ever."
The stage design Lorde referenced was created by ES Devlin, a designer who Genius notes has also worked with West in the past.
Lorde spoke about the set in an interview with Spinoff in 2017, Lorde explained: "I built the show with Es Devlin, who I have admired for a really long time. And from the jump, we were just wanting to head towards something that we felt like we hadn't seen.
"It's hard to come up with stuff that feels new, and with the tank it felt weird and interesting and quite specific to me... The two of us just built it from the ground up, bouncing ideas back and forth. I decided that I wanted the show to follow the arc of an evening in my life and I loved the idea of the show having a narrative – have a peak and having falls, and slowly building in the same way that an evening does."
Lorde's friend and fellow artist Taylor Swift is another singer who has called out West over his stage set up, taking a jab at the one he used during his Saint Pablo tour in her song "Look What You Made Me Do". In a lyric that was widely interpreted to be about West, she sings: "I don't like your little games / Don't like your tilted stage."
Some fans seemed a little bewildered by Lorde's claim, however, and pointed out that Justin Bieber performed in a clear glass box for his Purpose tour in 2016; A$AP Rocky appeared in one for the performance installation Lab Rat as part of promotion for his latest album Testing. Kendrick Lamar also appeared on top of a glass box for his Brit Awards performance earlier this year.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments