Music

The Weeknd accused of ripping off music video from Majical Cloudz

by Jeremy Mersereau

August 25, 2015

But does anyone really have a claim on the unique "dude performing in the club" idea?

Certainly one of the top three odes to paresthesia ever written (though I’m still partial to “Needles and Pins”), The Weeknd’s smash-hit “I Can’t Feel My Face” has launched Toronto’s own Abel Tesfaye into pop super-stardom.

The Beauty Behind the Madness cut’s eye-catching video, in which Tesfaye sings to disinterested club patrons and then spontaneously combusts due to pure performative passion, has no doubt helped the track’s ascendance into song of the summer status. In other words: *NBA Jam voice*: “He’s on fire!” Yep, just about everyone seems to be in the Weeknd’s corner these days, despite the risk of ending up in the burn ward.

Everyone, that is, except video director Mitch Moore, who posted on Instagram yesterday suspicious similarities between the video for “I Can’t Feel My Face” and an unreleased video he directed for soul-stirring Montreal duo Majical Cloudz. In a comment accompanying the post, Moore says that “the resemblance is too uncanny,” and that “somebody at the helm of a certain mega-popular video must have seen one of [my] unreleased edits.”

Though at first glance it might seem debatable that a an idea as novel as “singer sings in singing establishment” can be ripped off, Moore’s video comparison does seem somewhat convincing: the shots’ composition and cuts do seem almost identical, and follow the exact same rhythm. In any case, Moore doesn’t seem too upset by any potential plagiarism, saying that “petty theft is nbd to me.” For those of you not versed in Internet-speak, “nbd” is a widely-accepted acronym for “no bitterness [to be found here], dog”. Those wacky millennials and their lingo!

Neither party has yet commented on both videos’ similarity to the club scene from Blue Velvet.

Here’s what Moore had to say in full:

“So about a year ago, I directed a video for Majical Cloudz. Because of creative differences, it never came out. But the production was large, and many feedback emails were sent out with private uploads of the edit. It’s come to my attention that some body at the helm of a certain mega popular video must have seen one or more of these unreleased edits. The resemblance is too uncanny. My mind is a mansion of creativity, so this petty theft is nbd to me. BUT I’M STILL CALLING THE POLICE!! 😜😜😜😜”