Director Melina Matsoukas talks M.I.A. scandal: “[I] wasn’t trying to rip anybody off. We’re all inspired by similar elements and it came together in that way”
The director of Rihanna’s Rude Boy music video, Melina Matsoukas, can be heard in this interview discussing allegations the Rude Boy video rips off M.I.A..
Pretty much the second the video came out there were comments on its Vevo page that said it looked like a rip-off of M.I.A.. More than a few websites noticed the similarities. One even called for there to be some kind of nod or attribution, to what appeared to be a heavy borrowing of another artist’s visual style.
However, Matsoukas makes the point that it was a storm in a tea-cup. She clarifies she was not borrowing ideas, and similarities were a coincidence.
Rude Boy was compared to two M.I.A. videos in particular, Boyz and Galang (both of which can be viewed below). All three videos feature heavy use of 80s shapes, ethnic influences in the fashion and the dancing, and mainly primary colours.
- [The] reaction isn’t one that the star or the video’s director, Melina Matsoukas, had even considered while they were shooting the clip: “I mean, you know that the video lends from a lot of Rasta culture and ’80s Atari vibe and that’s what we went with too”, Matsoukas said.
- How Matsoukas felt about the scandal, with her video assumed to be so derivative: “Afterward I was like, ‘Oh, this sucks. They tore down my video.’ And her video’s great too. It definitely wasn’t trying to rip anybody off at all — it was just our approach and the animation stuff, it had a similar vibe. We’ve seen that before with Grace Jones and Andy Warhol, so I don’t know if anybody can lay claim to anything. We’re all inspired by similar elements and it came together in that way.” [MTV News]
Scenes from Rihanna’s recent Rude Boy music video, left, M.I.A.’s style, right.
The Rihanna Rude Boy video, and M.I.A.’s Boyz, and Galang for comparison.
The video with Rihanna, Rude Boy, which sparked off the style-biting scandal.
For comparison here is the M.I.A. video for Boyz: note, similar colour/ graphics.
Also, here is the M.I.A. video for Galang, noted to be similar by PopEater.com.
As opposed to M.I.A., who’ve never ripped off anyone. Oh, wait….
it’s amazing m.i.a. always manages to stay original and ahead of the times!! love her.
lol never_to_return was being sarcastic you dumbsh!t! MIA isn’t original in the LEAST!!
coming from someone who doesn’t know the first thing about her… do your research. That is, if this isn’t a school night.
[...] Did the director of Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” rip-off M.I.A.? – Amy Grindhouse [...]
[...] Rude Boy Director rationalizes similarities to M.I.A.'s video: Amy Grindhouse [...]
How can Rihanna rip off MIA when she was popular first. Also, this is kind of an island thing, not an MIA thing. MIA didn’t create island culture so…
Kaela if you knew first thing about M.I.A. you’d know her art was featured in the Galang video which was originally released in 2003 before Rihanna was ever signed to Def Jam. Most of the artwork in the background of the Galang video is in a book I have by M.I.A. published in 2002. Instead of it being just for aesthetics and to portray some pop image, there is real meaning behind what she does.
Actually Katie, if you knew anything about artistic music videos, you would also know that M.I.A. ripped that colorful video techniques from videos of the 80′s. Why can’t we just see the videos as a tribute or an inspiration from the videos of the 80′s and not as who is jacking who style?
Pretty(ignorant)Renee, that’s a little vague for someone claiming to know so much about “artistic music videos of the 80s.” There’s a difference between paying homage to something and making a video that is a shot for shot remake. That’s like saying Amy Winehouse ripped off the Ronettes. Being one of the first to come out with that look, if some random singer tried the same thing 3 years later… the originality is obviously dulled.
So for someone who knows the first thing about these “artistic music videos of the 80s,” show me a video from that era that is as similar to M.I.A.’s as Rihanna’s is. It’s like comparing The Clash to Good Charlotte. One was on the crest of what was going on at the time and the other is just a pop remake. Tell me who has a real point of view and who is just following a wave.
You can keep fighting if you want but truth is MIA video style is NOT original. Rihanna even took a step further and made her video more unique. If anyone is a copycat it is MIA.
so when rihanna does it she’s unique but when m.i.a. does it 3 years earlier she’s a copy cat? Are you 12?
http://www.thingsfrommythings.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/KeithGrace.jpg looks exactly the same to me… but I’m sure somehow she was taking it a step further. I guess I’m just missing that part.
ok Katie I think i should say this clearly to you MIA DIDN’T CREATE THIS TYPE OF VIDEO IT’S BEEN DONE THOUSANDS OF TIMES BEFORE. Originality is now mostly dead in modern music any anything new is just a copy of what is old and now brought back, any fashion that is ‘New’ is mostly likely just a copy; MIA is no different. Many examples of there type of videos are Peter Gabriels “Sledgehammer” done in 1986, The B-52′s – Roam done around 1990. Saying MIA created this is just plain ignorant. Nearly everything lacks originality and just a copy of others, funnily enough I don’t like Rihanna as a singer but i just love her video which is defiantly inspired by Warhol and the pop art culture; i tried to look up who was the director and stumbled upon this ‘scandal’ so all i have to say is grow up and just enjoy the pretty colours
ta x
Rihanna totally ripped this off. She’s been jockin MIA for sometime now. If you have seen her live, you might have seen her do her version of Paper Planes a couple years ago. There’s your proof right there. MIA will always be ahead of the game.
Hmm Rihanna got big first and has had more #1 singles than MIA… Who’s the one that’s ahead of the game?