Lil Nas X has teased his new project ‘Dreamboy’, whose artwork has been accused of plagiarising that of Sega Bodega.
The rapper took to social media on November 12 to announce that his brand new single ‘Light Again!’ will drop this Friday (November 15). However, Lil Nas X sparked fury online when he wrote a follow-up tweet expanding on the world of ‘dreamboy’, seemingly his latest new project, and sharing artwork from the upcoming project.
“It just dawned on me how lucky i am to have all of you that still fuck with me,” he wrote. “bc i know it isn’t always easy! dreamboy isn’t just an album, it’s me coping with the loss of what once was and fighting for a new world. im so excited to bring you on the journey.”
However, Sega Bodega (real name Salvador Navarrete) took to X/Twitter to point out the similarities between the ‘dreamboy’ artwork and the artwork for Navarrete’s 2021 single, ‘Angel On My Shoulder’, suggesting that Lil Nas X may have plagiarised his work.
“Not even trying to put a spin on it is where I’m like yeesh”, Navarrete wrote. When one fan acknowledged that Lil Nas X had posted an Instagram story earlier that day showing Navarrete’s artwork as a reference (but with no explicit credits), Navarrete responded: “‘Look he did credit you in a photo that will disappear in 24 hours forever and no name whatsoever of artist or photographer! Be grateful!’ You lot sound insane.”
not even trying to put a spin on it is where I’m like yeesh https://t.co/lY5gkug8b3
— sega bodega (@segabodega) November 13, 2024
Sega Bodega reacts to Lil Nas X using him as a reference for new era artwork:
“Not even trying to put a spin on it is where I’m like yeesh.” pic.twitter.com/ePuXCaoEGF
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 13, 2024
This is not the first time Lil Nas X’s art has been accused of plagiarism. In 2021, similarities were spotted between the video for his breakout hit ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ and FKA Twigs‘ ‘Cellophane’, which was released in 2019.
Andrew Thomas Huang (director of ‘Cellophane’) took to TikTok to post a side-by-side of the two videos, which both show the artists pole-dancing into darkness. He captioned the video: “@lilnasx take me off your mood board or hire me”.
Huang posted a lengthier thread a day later, concluding: “Intentional or not, copying other artists’ work happens. Making music videos is a labor of love. The demand for content pushed by major labels renders our work disposable and pits artists against each other.”
FKA Twigs later thanked Lil Nas X on social media, revealing she had spoken to him. “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!”
“I think what you have done is amazing and i fully support your expression and bravery in pushing culture forward for the queer community. Legend status.”
In a post of his own, Lil Nas X called the ‘Cellophane’ video “a masterpiece”, saying that he was “not aware that the visual would serve as inspiration for those who worked on the effects of my video”.
“I want to say thank u to twigs for calling me and informing me about the similarities between the two videos, as I was not aware they were so close. Was only excited for the video to come out,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lil Nas X also faced a copyright infringement lawsuit in 2022 over similarities between his ‘LIL NAS X GIVES BIRTH’ video and Dana Dentata’s ‘Pantychrist’ album and artwork.
Court documents seen by The Blast state that Dentata has reportedly issued a cease and desist letter to Lil Nas’ management team, claiming that he used “copyrighted material” that was “essentially identical to the ‘Pantychrist’ music video and clearly used the work as its basis”.
In other news, Lil Nas X has clapped back at Azealia Banks for saying he “fell off” and that “bitch has NO BARS”.
