Governors Ball 2017 - Firday
photo by Amanda Hatfield

Lorde says Kanye & Kid Cudi stole her set design at Kids See Ghosts debut show

Lorde took to Instagram to accuse Kanye West and Kid Cudi of stealing her stage design in a series of stories posted on Monday (11/12). The images compare a suspended glass box that’s been a part of Lorde’s Melodrama World Tour since her performance at Coachella in 2017, with Kanye and Cudi’s debut Kids See Ghosts performance on Sunday (11/11) at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival in LA, which featured a similar stage setup.

After alternating two pictures of her own stage with two pictures of Kids See Ghosts’ stage, Lorde wrote, “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. But don’t steal — not from women or anyone else — not in 2018 or ever.”

Lorde’s stage at Coachella 2017 was designed by Es Devlin, and her Melodrama tour stage, with a similar design, was built by TAIT. Es Devlin has also worked with Kanye, going back to his 2005 “Touch the Sky” tour, and most recently on his 2013 “Yeezus” tour. Along with their work with artists like Elton John, Drake, and U2, TAIT have worked with Kanye too, on his 2011 and 2012 Watch the Throne tour with Jay-Z. Kanye’s 2016 “Saint Pablo” tour also featured a floating stage, designed by John McGuire for TrasK House. It isn’t currently known who designed and built Kids See Ghosts’ Camp Flog Gnaw set.

This was the first Kids See Ghosts show since they released what turned out to be one of the highest rated hip hop releases of 2018, and the first KSG show ever, but Kanye and Cudi have performed together on stage several times over the years including recently at a private party for the tenth anniversary of creative director Willo Perron’s agency, Willo Perron & Associates (where they didn’t play any KSG songs).

Here’s video of Kids See Ghosts from Camp Flog Gnaw: