Jimmy Nevis is in hot water on social media after he was accused of imitating a fellow singer’s song artwork.
The Athlone-born star released his track Hey Jimmy on 17 April.
The cover picture is of him shoulder-deep in the sea, with his hands in a praying gesture, against a backdrop of boulders.
Fans were quick to spot that the shoot resembled the image for Naludez’s album, titled Tacenda.
The Cape Town songstress released the mixtape in April last year.
Social media users were vicious, with Twitter user @nuhaavstheworld posting the two artists’ pictures side-by-side with the caption: “What you order vs what you get in the mail. @JimmyNevis please come explain eyohhh.(sic)”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/JimmyNevis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JimmyNevispls come explain because eyohhhh pic.twitter.com/Sr4a06QNFR
— Nuhaa (@nuhaavstheworld)
Jimmy has since apologised, telling Daily Voice: “We didn’t plan to go that deep into the water. We took hundreds of pictures that day and the one chosen is very similar to Nalu’s.
“This was completely unintentional, I would never steal from anyone’s work. I would especially not blatantly put someone else’s work out there and claim it as my own.
“I am a fan of Nalu’s, I even promoted her EP when it came out last year. As soon as I saw the tweet, I reached out to her on WhatsApp.
“I apologised to her and her fans online too because I understand what this looks like and how she might feel.
I am a Nalu fan like all of you... it was seriously never my intention during this shoot. I accept the images look very similar. From one artist to another, my sincere apologies to @naludez and her fans 👑
— #HEYJIMMY (@JimmyNevis) April 21, 2020
But Naludez, 22, is still clearly upset at Jimmy, telling Daily Voice: I worked for hours on end and poured my heart into my project, Tacenda, so to have the cover art copied and pasted by an established artist doesn’t sit well with me.
even me i want to kno 😔 https://t.co/icLnZ7zS0n
— 🌒 (@naludez) April 21, 2020
“It would’ve shown integrity if some accountability been taken for the uncanny resemblance and striking similarities between the images.
“Jimmy is an artist that I have looked up to for a long time, so this entire situation is deeply frustrating and disappointing.
“My only ask to Jimmy, as an established artist, is that he gives credit to the up-and-coming artists from whom he draws his inspiration".