Trent Reznor really stays true to his word, and that is holding nothing back. The Nine Inch Nails frontman is now aiming at Kanye West and R&B superstar The Weeknd. According to Consequence of Sound, Reznor believes that both West and The Weeknd have stolen ideas from his band’s stage productions.

In an interview with BBC Music, Reznor recollects his memory of watching the Coachella live streams and stated that “every band has a video playing behind them, and every band is synced up with a convenient, polite lighting package,” just like NIN does. He continued to say “And I saw Kanye West blatantly rip off – and The Weeknd rip off – our tours production-wise, which I’ll say without any hesitation. And they know [it].” In the same article from Consequence of Sound, production designer Martin Phillips has worked with both West and Nine Inch Nails. As for The Weeknd, the production designers from The Weeknd’s latest Starboy tour, “always called [The Weeknd’s] aesthetic the Nine Inch Nails of R&B,” as reported to Billboard. 

In the same interview, Reznor does wish to see more productions similar to what rock bands did in the 80’s. “… Smoke, maybe a color, a little bit of someone’s hair, and real, real loud guitars. That’s exciting, and I don’t see that happening much.”

Reznor recently attacked West stating that his latest album ye “sucked, and that’s it.” He continued to say that “He has made great shit; he’s not in a great place right now.” He has also targeted Taylor Swift, commenting on her being politically silent in order to keep her brand intact. He stated “the Taylor Swifts of the world, and top-tier, needle-moving cultural youth,” who stay silent “because they are concerned about their brand, their demographic and their success and career and whatnot.”

Listen to Reznor’s interview with BBC below.

https://twitter.com/BBC6Music/status/1012055728432001026

Listen to the full interview here

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat