In 2016, the iconic Canadian rapper Drake released his fourth studio album, titled Views, with the top charting song “Hotline Bling” serving as the lead single. When the music video and the single were released in 2015, Drake witnessed some intense meme-age and publicity. The psychedelic neon lights in the living room sized cube was something brand new and exciting many had not seen before–only, they had seen it before. And so have many others. As any art fanatic like myself may know, the famous modern artist, James Turrell, featured his groundbreaking studies of light, color, and space at LACMA in 2010. En lieu of Turrell being known for his vivacious presence in the art world, he is now known as the sole influence behind Drake’s music video.
When accusations of copyright arose, the director of the music video said that any connection between the video and the artwork was “merely accidental” and there was no intention of content theft. But, in an interview, Turrell said that Drake “honored [his] work and [Turrell] was flattered by that,” and continued to say that he has in fact “enjoyed a lot more attention since [he] got involved.”
Previous to the release of the album, Drake visited LACMA in 2014 and was accompanied by Rolling Stone. In their trip to the museum, Drake told the magazine that Turrell “was a big influence on the visuals for [his] last tour.” Turrell and the rapper even took time out of their adventure to meet, and Drake was photographed inside one of the artist’s famous light boxes. In the end, both artists came to a mutual conclusion. Turrell stated “While I am truly flattered to learn that Drake F’s with me, I nevertheless wish to make clear that neither I nor any of my woes was involved in any way in the making of the Hotline Bling video.”
However, I personally think that Turrell was robbed of full credit and did not get his rightful piece in the collaboration. In the matter of artistry, there is and always will be a fine line between what is plagiarized and what is inspiration.
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