Machine Gun Kelly was forced to change his Tickets To My Downfall due to alleged plagiarism from the designer.
Now the designer, Terry Urban, has issued a statement on Tuesday (Sept. 8) alongside photos of his original drawings to clarify the situation saying he has “the outmost respect for any and all creatives.”
Urban explains that the image of the falling man that was actor, Sen Mitsuji, was used as a reference for the album art, however, at the time he was unaware of the origin of the photo and he apologized to the photographer for that mistake. He does however clarify that he completely hand illustrated the image on MGK’s album art referencing the photo but did not steal it, he assembled the illustration body part by body part, even including his tattoos.
“In regards to the ‘falling’ image, above are attached photos of many body variations I hand illustrated. The team chose an illustration that was referenced from a photo of actor Sen Mitsuji,” Urban continued. “I was unaware of the origin of the photo at the time. My apologies to the photographer as there was no intentions to steal this image, but rather reference the falling body position. This hand illustrated reference to the photo has been assembled body part by body part. My aim was to display the true detail of Kells, from his current haircut down to the exact tattoos on his torso. I have the outmost respect for any and all creatives and would never want to give the intention that I am stealing anyones art or not giving credit where credit is due.”
My statement in regards to the @machinegunkelly Tickets To My Downfall album art… pic.twitter.com/QcsBV5dwmW
— Terry Urban (@terryurban) September 8, 2020
The designer continued to tell fans in his statement that he has been professionally creating art for 30+ years and has worked with artists all over the world and never has anything but consistent love for his work.
“I have been a professional artist for over 30+ years and have worked with other artists all over the world. The EST team is family to me since the old Cleveland days. As we move onward and upward from this issue, I want everyone to know that I love you all and I appreciate the consistent love and support over the years. Other than purchasing a front row ticket to my own downfall, I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the art and branding that i’ve worked tirelessly on for this project. Thank you!”
Urban does let fans know that is much more coming for this project including cds, vinyl, billboards, merch, a hand painted guitar and even the mural that he painted for his MTV Video Music Awards performance.
“As a lot of you are up in arms about the Tickets To My Downfall cover art image, I figured I should address this to give some insight from the artists perspective,” Urban started to explain of the situation. “As many of you think I simply copied an image and called it my own art, there is a mountain of work not yet released spanning over six months to bring this whole projects branding to life. There are covers, inserts, cd, vinyl, cassette, billboards, merch, hand painted guitar, and even a mural for Kells performance at the VMAs.”
Machine Gun Kelly is scheduled to release his much-anticipated pop-punk album, Tickets To My Downfall, on September 25 featuring collaborations with Halsey, Blackbear, Trippie Redd and more. The project will include the album released singles “Bloody Valentine,” “Concert For Aliens” and “My Ex’s Best Friend.”
