Zayn Malik unveiled the album cover of his debut solo album, “Mind of Mine”, on Wednesday. On Thursday, he was already on the defence following accusations that he ripped of Lil Wayne’s cover art.
Fans online were quick to call out the former One Direction member for his lack of originality. Twitter has been awash with comparisons on the 2 albums covers, noting the similarities to Wayne’s 2008 album “Tha Carter III”. Both cover arts feature the respective artists as babies with tattoos.
On his “Mind of Mine” cover, the young Malik looks super adorable with his chin resting on his tattooed arms. Wayne’s cover on the other hand, depicts a baby Carter marked up with facial tattoos. Aside from the obvious tattoos, fans were quick to point out that the resemblance extended even from the soft lighting and the black background to the all-caps lettering.
In response to the accusations made against him, Malik took to Twitter to assure fans that wasn’t his intention and that “a lot of artists use it for their own reasons”. He tweeted, “I’m not tryna be no rapper, my album is me a child .. My ideas have been with me a long time” before asking the public to keep an open mind to his art.
I'm not tryna be no rapper , my album is me a child .. My ideas have been with me a long time,
— zayn (@zaynmalik) February 19, 2016
Use your brain, appreciate art don't discriminate what you don't understand
— zayn (@zaynmalik) February 19, 2016
Malik, who previously debut his hit single, “Pillowtalk”, will be debuting his first solo album, “Mind of Mine”, on 25th March 2016.
So what do you think? Is the throwback picture of Malik’s younger self a tribute to Wayne? Or is it down right derivative?
Sources: Digital Spy, MTV.
