Rihanna's Director Sucks! She Totally Ripped Off M.I.A.!
Rihanna's latest video for "Rude Boy" looked an awful lot like M.I.A.'s "Boyz" music video, but apparently Rihanna's director Melina Matsoukas didn't think about the obvious comparisons while shooting the vid.
She explains:
“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. And then 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.”
That's what everyone says when they're called out on their blatant copying "inspiration."
We wonder what M.I.A. has to say about it?
What do U think?
Robert Kardashian Is A Pretty Boy!
i really dont like her, but i do love the song and the video
Didn't you post this already?
This is exactly why I dislike people like Rihanna, they're UNORIGINAL!
Am I the only person who thinks this girl cannot sing at all? Like Britany, all she is is a hot body.
What an ugly-looking creature.
SERIOUSLY!? This?!?! You posting this when theres been a huge earthquake/Tsunami warnings all over the world!?
but u just said u like the video when it premiered so i am confused
rihannas sucks period the only reason ppl know her is because when chris brown hit her and she milked it.im pretty sure she started it but no one tells her anything right .they just whale on chris brown which is crap.
btw rihanna be yourself and stop leaching of Lady Gaga and Beyonce
cause you wont ever be them !!!! your just another katy perry,kesha were you copy everybody's style dumb bitches !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think you are a piece of SHIT and You are not talented and u just critisize everyone and you are ugly as FUCK and STUPID….
It's funny that since you like Rhianna you blame the copying on her director. If this was someone you didn't like, you would put the blame on them.
LOL @ the Andy Warhol comment… YA RIGHT. Give me a break.
Unoriginal bitch…
It might be a rip off but its way better than M.I.A shitty video. GOOD DAY
Oh and by the way, Andy Warhol was an ARTIST. Back when Warhol was alive and creating, musicians were called musicians or singers not artists. Artists were artists people who create art on canvas. The term artists was not a all across the board GENERIC TERM which it has turned into. rIHANNA AS Artist.. HA!
I don't like the Keith Haring inspired Grace Jones ripoff in this vid. It's downright stealing.
There are similar elements in both M.I.A. and Rihanna's videos, mainly the color aspects, which is a meant to be a tribute to Jamaican culture, and has been done before these two. I wouldn't say Rihanna was blatantly copying her. It just sounds like you're trying to start shit because Rihanna's album isn't the flop you're trying to convince people it is, just so that you could say you were right in your prediction. It's even more ironic that the people you worship are blatant copycats themselves.
Re: Rosh –
Idiot, this is a celebrity news and gossip website, if you want news on a tsunami try a website that isn't bright pink and named after Paris Hilton perhaps…
Re: cassbird- –
Funny, because people knew who she was before the Chris Brown incident.
Awful song, awful video.
Rihanna needs to just stop. She is failing on a massive scale.
if rihanna was any sort of artist she would have already noticed those sort of things…
A LOT of people have used this type of visual style before. MIA wasn't being ground-breaking when she did it. A lot of people are inspired by island culture.
I think it is ABSURD to act like MIA is the only person to use this style in their video.
You can certainly tell when Bitter Barbie is the blogger. Whatever happened to Perez's precious Princess Riri?
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Perez is a total misogynist and hates most women except for a few gay icons.
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Barbie is bitter because of her physical and mental lot in life and pretty much hates every female on earth, bar none.
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So we now seem to have a total woman hating site. Way to go "Perez Hilton"
as much as i love lady gaga, she blatantly copies other people, specifically grace jones so why arent you mentioning that??
No offence Perez, but M.I.A. wasn't very original EITHER..
Just have a look at Neneh Cherry's 1988 video "Buffalo Stance" or Technotronic's 1989 video "Pump Up The Jam".
The video fit Rihanna's Rude Boy perfectly and there's nothing wrong with paying homage to past styles.. JUST LIKE M.I.A. DID!!
Oh.. and go back to school if you're gonna do music video history, it's embarassing to use a contemporary artist as M.I.A. as a reference of uniqueness.
And MIA ripped off her video from everyone else of that era.
These types of videos were around forever back then and are pretty common.
When your blessed whore Madonna copied Warhol's Marilyn you thought it was a stroke of pure genius. Do you think we don't't remember stuff?
not the fucking same. i agree with the directors response actually. you already posted this shit anyway. this damn site is like crack- bad, but keep going back for more. i cant stand most of your annoying ass bullshit comments, so why i keep looking, i dont know. eh.
socialite life is much better.
So if somebody does a black and white video that has slow motion they're ripping off Street Spirit? Give me a break. It's hard to be truly original these days and it's highly unlikely that she intentionally ripped off MIA. I feel bad for her.
Re: OhJustPickOne –
"Just have a look at Neneh Cherry's 1988 video "Buffalo Stance"
Great reference point! Neneh's video probably cost a fraction of what it took to make Rihanna's & M.I.A.'s videos, and it still outshines theirs.
Sorry to say this to all the rooster head lovers out there, but there is nothing original about Rihanna.
UHM.. WRONG IS ITS ANY VID OF MIA SHE RIPPED OFF ITS THE BUCKY DUN GUN VIDEO.
No Perez! I actually thought MIA's video borrowed a LOT from old school Dancehall videos.
Rude Boy is a throwback to Dancehall and the video appropriately refers to that old school island style type of Reggae video looks.
I love that song and video.
God, I hate this girl….I wish her face would just implode.
Re: LaLaLams – -
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Andy would have cringed at your need to compartmentalize.
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who cares if she copied aspects of it consciously or not. the rihanna video has its own materials, colors, vibe, etc. frankly, i like it a lot better, and i think the music video world is the richer for it. sometimes this obsessive focus on "originality" is nonsense. let mia take credit for being a major inspiration, and let's move on. by the way, what about the thousands of carbon copy gansta and booty shaker videos that get churned out on a monthly basis? the only reason you're not posting copycat alerts on those is because there are so many of them you'd go blue in the balls in no time.
Perez loved Rihanna for months… then one day he dumped her…. what a loyal fan he was.
btw i hate Rihanna… but i just hate more how perez is so confused in what he likes
wow…she should be chris browned again.
Re: alfabravo – I'm thinking about this and LaLaLams does have a point, my man. The term artist used to apply to persons in the art world. That is correct. These days anyone who can sell a tune or stand on a stage is an "artist." This comes from "recording artist." The term artist should never have even considered for most of these people. The majority of them can't even write music or play an instrument. If there are artists to be had in the music industry it is surely not the glut of singers needing serious sound/electronic intervention to make them saleable. The engineers are the true artists in music these days. The singers are merely catalysts for the big bucks. Chew em up, spit em out.
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"Rihanna's Director Sucks!"
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Well, yeah….duh!
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The director sucks because Rihanna and her music sucks. Like meets like.
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She is not that talented… and I think both videos and songs blow.
I wondered when you were gonna start hating on your precious RRi.
(I never cared for her, anyway)
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Is lady gag gag next?
LOOK MELINA MATSOUKAS HAS A HISTORY OF "SAMPLING" OTHER VIDS AND CLIPS FROM MOVIES. THIS IS A KNOWN FACT. YEA IT IS KIND OF SWAGGER JACKING BUT SHE DOES BUILD FROM THE SAMPLINGS AND MAKES IT MORE INTERESTING. FOR INSTANCE WHITNEY'S MDB VID IS A SAMPLED CLIP FROM THE GOOD FELLAS WHERE RAY LIOTTA GOES DOWNSTAIRS TO A BASEMENT RESTAURANT WHICH LEADS TO A CLUB WHERE HENNY YOUNGMAN IS DOING A COMEDY ACT. INSTEAD OF YOUNGMAN IN MDB, YOU HAVE WHITNEY SINGING THE SONG. PRETTY OBVIOUS THE INSPIRATION AND SWAGGER JACKING. IS IT ORIGINAL? NOOO… BUT DOES IT WORK? YESSS. NUFF SAID.
uhm, this is not like a movie, where the actors have no control, not their script. etc. this is a song, a video, being done by the singer. If it 'looks' like someone else's work. don't blame the director, blame the singer and the label. the director is just directing what is in front of him/her. he/she is giving a script and told what to do. love how you are doing everything possible not to blame rhianna. NEXT-you will blame chris brown for rhianna 's ripping off of mia.
heads up folks.. singers/musicians don't make music videos… directors and production companies do. while i love me some Rihanna, she should of hired VIDEO MARSH to make her video. check out the video they did for CARIBOU called ODESSA on vimeo.com.
the video is lyk Mia shes actin lyk she Beyonce. Theres nothing original about her in dis video. Dnt lyk it.
MIA is actually fuckig amazing and gutsy and some of her songs are about real things , like murder in Africa. Rhianna is yet another BLAND POP SLUT. over it!
GO AHEAD, KEEP SHOVING THIS CORPORATE RUN GARBAGE DOWN OUR THROATS. KEEP CHOKING ON IT AND THE REGURGITATING IT.
I dont give a shit
Re: cassbird- – really? so chris brown made her famous, so no one knew her until that incident???
there in nothing new under the sun, everyone takes and remakes from each other, the thing is who does it better???/ my vote goes to rihanna. the song rocks and so does the video you just don't like her but check this out…she's getting your fucking attention isn't she. that's what really fucking your dumb ass up..hahahaha
Re: alfabravo – No, he would be cringing at the massive amount of unoriginal "art" out there these days.
right on Ohjustpickone
Ehh what? The videos clearly have some of the same elements but I wouldn't call it ripping off. Rihanna's video is better anyway.
Re: AndyXXVII – And thank you, I'm glad you get it!
Rhianna sucks
EWWW I HATE THE VID
i think the video's a bit too long…and it didn't all mesh together just right, BUT there were a lot of good ideas in there and she looks hot and knows how to shake it.
i dont care if its like MIA, so what!?! i like it!!??!!
Re: MARSHYMAR – he did say that, he said, "it reminds us of M.I.A. we like it!
Re: PENNSYLVANIA GIRL – does she hate bar raphael?
Re: OhJustPickOne – You are absolutely right. MIA was not the originator of this style! Everyone cops everyone's styles. I love this song and video. How could you not like the song? It is very catchy and sexy!
Lol I've seen this for years on the Island. M.I.A got it from there and so did Rihanna. When I see Gaga dance I see Micheal Jackson and Grace Jones. EVERYONE gets there idea from something else. Justin Timberlake, Usher, Beat her down ALL MICHEAL JACKSON. Even Elvis did it (well he STOLE MOST OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC) back in the day. Most of the movies are a remake of an American or Asain movie. Everything is unoriginal these days.
your an idiot perez. its just done in the same style get over it
this video is totally grace jones inspired, with the art and zebra prints.
rihanna is a horrible artist. any record company can give you a stylist and hire the best songwriters and make you an instant star. an artist should be measured by their intergrity and originality. rihanna clearly lacks both, which is why she has to be molded into whatever's "hot" at the moment. it's a shame a TRUE artist like MIA has to be leeched off of because of lame artists like rihanna.
Re: OhJustPickOne – exactly what i though too
Neneh Cherry's 1988 video "Buffalo Stance" or Technotronic's 1989 video "Pump Up The Jam"
Re: Violet Virgo – Glad you agree with me!
I think its a rip off! MIA has way more talented then Rihanna! Rihanna's very exotic, eccentric beauty is whats getting her by…and people who write her music. She should have just been a model or something.
PIRAMIDES AND EYES, she's just another puppet. Sadly MJ was murdered for what he knew…………
who gives a fuck about m.i.a?
Re: Obsessed – hahaha! i sooooo agree with you on how this site is like crack! i too hate it but can't quit it!!!!
Oh well I still like her and the video.
is she that unoriginal and untalented that she cant sing or come up with her own video ideas?
Everybody steals from everbody else in the music industry. I don't know why this is SO shocking.
Love this song..
in EVERY single video rihanna has put out she copies somebody…..this is not new……She and her "team" are a bunch of unoriginal thieves……
sure you can be inspired by the work other people have done but when you're Consistently Inspired by others and pass off elements of their work as your own, you're simply a thief.
MIA is amazing, she actually has serious messages in her song rather than this bullshit…wtf i mean rude boy can u get it up? Seriously…all she does now days is prance around showing off her ass n tits n singing absolute crap.
Seriously, she just needs to go away. Forever. Her songs used to be awesome now she's just churning out absolute crap one after another. AND she's already going to release another album this summer. Can someone please neuter this girl?
that MIA video director has no sense… rihanna's vid director was copying jamaican culture in a sad sad way. hate the video… but i think thats becuz im jamaican
Yeah I do think this was inspired! The similarities of the videos are the pop art colours (Warhol) and black culture (Grace Jones). Warhol and Jones are both icons so it cannot be a ripoff.
I love this video.
Yeah, she did rip off M.I.A.'s music video pretty bad. There is influence, and then there is flat out thievery, and this leans more toward the latter.
MIA RESPONDED ALREADY, JEEZ PEREZ GET WITH IT!
Re: Rosh – Not here it's sunny here…and beautiful. Don't care. Sick of taking care of the rest of the world…..
i love the song and vid. not crazy for rihanna. dont think the director "ripped off' anyone. everyone's inspired by something.
IT LOOKS MORE LIKE "BOOM KING" by FOTC.
They both ripped off Warhol.
forget Rihanna's video…MIA has stole music clips from the Pixies and the Clash…How Original???
Um..I'm pretty sure that Rhianna has seen MIA's video before and she obviously saw this one before it was released so why didn't SHE say anything. Don't try to blame it all on the director.
Re: KCRosie – no i've been saying it since she came out.
I think your overreacting. I like this vid's way better than M.I.A.'s one. I mean, I understand she was first but her vid was so annoying.
All you dip shits! Rihanna is a Caribean girl, this is what we do, I am Jamaican so I know. If anyone is a rip off it would be M.I.A, everything she does is Caribean influence . If you guys weren`t fill with so much hatred, maybe you would know. LOVE M.I.A THOUGH!
and im sure M.I.A. stole it from someone else
it doesnt even look that close in comparison
Why do you have to look for scandal even when there isn't any? This is the best video of Rihanna's career. It is clearly a homage to Keith Haring and Stephen Sprouse and many other artists through the years. Fashion, music, art is always nicking from it's predecessors. That's the way it has always been. MIA's director does not have a copyright for this type of video.
You suck if you can't even realize when you've seen a wonderful work of art.
She really does need to stop. She doesn't look good in this video, & definitely seems to be taking from other people. I totally agree with @LaLaLams… artists are supposed to be inspiring with beautiful works on canvas… I don't think an artist is somebody who "sings" about sexual exploits & all that other crap that seem to be taking over the music industry.
I've actually grown to like the song. Don't care much for the video, though.
Geez, it's not like M.I.A. created this style or anything.
yeah, blame the whole thing on the director. because your beloved, perfect little princess riri would NEVER do anything like that. no, she's not responsible for ripping anybody off. please. this dumb twat needs to go away. it's her fucking video. she's the ripoff artist.