Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor accused Kanye West and The Weeknd of ripping him off in a new BBC interview (via Consequence of Sound).
Reznor remembered watching Coachella streams “from the comfort of our couch,” and noticing that “every band has a video playing behind them, and every band is synced up with a convenient, polite lighting package,” just like NIN does. “And I saw Kanye West blatantly rip off – and The Weeknd rip off – our tours production-wise, which I’ll say without any hesitation. And they know [it].”
Reznor went on to say that he’d be more excited to see things like The Cure and Jesus and Mary Chain did back in the ’80s. “… Smoke, maybe a color, a little bit of someone’s hair, and real, real louds guitars. That’s exciting, and I don’t see that happening much.” He said he’s taken NIN back towards that sort of show, less reliant on technology and immersive experiences. “It’s music being played somewhat sloppily, with an element of danger and uncertainty and unpredictability. And we mean it, and we’re sweating, and it hurts on stage at times. And it worked.”
The Weeknd’s Starboy tour production designers told Billboard that they “always called [The Weeknd’s] aesthetic the Nine Inch Nails of R&B.”
Did @kanyewest and @theweeknd "blatantly" rip off @nineinchnails' live show?
Weds, Noon BST: Nine Inch Nails' @trent_reznor and Atticus Ross spend some time chatting to @laurenlaverne.
?? Listen worldwide https://t.co/Dd2jiILcDV pic.twitter.com/S7ChPCAwPG
— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) June 26, 2018
