Zayn Malik Defends Album Cover Artwork After People Accuse Him of Copying Lil Wayne

Mind of Mine uses a baby picture much like Tha Carter IV

No matter what Zayn Malik did, he was probably going to face some criticism, given that he left One Direction and all.

But ever since officially launching his solo career with the hit single "Pillowtalk," Zayn seemed to be doing pretty well for himself, until Wednesday. The 23-year-old crooner appeared as a musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and debuted his new song, "It's You." Obviously it was an instant success, sparking immediate conversation about whom it could be about, given it's striking lyrics.

"Tell me your lies / Because I just can't face it," he sings. "It's you, it's you / It's you."

So far so good, right? Well, like we said, it was all good and then it wasn't. Zayn then released his album cover for his forthcoming record, Mind of Mine, which features him as a toddler with tattoos all over his arms. To be honest he looks pretty darn adorable in the picture, which was pretty much the initial reaction of fans everywhere. But soon enough the Internet got involved and realized that Zayn's album cover looks similar to Lil Wayne's album cover for Tha Carter IV. 

Both covers feature the musicians as toddlers, and that's pretty much the only similarity. The covers caused such an uproar that Zayn took to Twitter Thursday night to clear the air.

"I'm not tryna be no rapper, my album is me a child," he tweeted. "My ideas have been with me a long time. Use your brain, appreciate art don't discriminate what you don't understand."

Another Twitter user noted that Lil Wayne wasn't the first—nor the last—artist to use baby pictures for album covers. Drake used one, as well as The Notorious B.I.G. on his album, Ready to Die.

"Lil Wayne didn't trademark using baby pictures as cover art fam," the user wrote. "Zayn just following legends that's it."

Someone else retweeted that post and commented, "@zaynmalik true. A lot of artists use it for their own reasons." The exchange definitely resonated with the former 1D star, as he retweeted it on his own page.

Do you think he was copying Lil Wayne or was it simply a coincidence? Sound off in the comments!