HIGHLIGHT's Kikwang Is Hit With Accusations Of Plagiarizing SHINee's Taemin For "PREDATOR"

Earlier today, HIGHLIGHT‘s Kikwang released a music video for the title track of his first full-length album of the same name, “PREDATOR”.

Fans of HIGHLIGHT and the soloist were excited to see a new release from Kikwang, and he definitely delivered with slightly haunting sound and aesthetic of the song and music video. However, there was something that netizens noticed that has them questioning where he got his inspiration from.

Kikwang (HIGHLIGHT) | *Around Us Entertainment*

People were quick to notice many similarities between “PREDATOR” and SHINee‘s Taemin‘s “Advice”, which was released nearly two years ago in May 2021.

To start with, the title cards for both songs look fairly similar, with pretty much the exact same font color used and a dark, moody background for both.

But that’s far from being the only similarity. In fact, netizens noticed a startling number of scenes, clothing/accessories, and other aspects of Kikwang’s music video that looked heavily inspired by Taemin’s “Advice”.

Top: Kikwang in “PREDATOR”; Bottom: Taemin in “Advice” | *The Qoo*

Left: “Predator”; Right: “Advice” | *The Qoo*

The smeared paint look that Taemin had for his “Advice” era was also seen in “PREDATOR”, and while the designs used aren’t exactly the same, they’re definitely similar.

Kikwang for “PREDATOR” | *Around Us Entertainment*

It’s one thing to have a few similarities between one piece of media and an older one. But in this case, netizens think there are far too many coincidences between the two music videos to not be intentional. Even a sword was used as a prop in both.

The overall aesthetics are just too close to each other for many netizens, and it has led to plagiarism accusations against Kikwang.

Here are several more examples of similarities between the two music videos.

Top: Taemin in “Advice”; Bottom: Kikwang in “PREDATOR” | *The Qoo*

The similarities between the two music videos was the topic of conversation on a post on a popular online forum, where many fans expressed disappointment and frustration. Many think that they’re far too similar to just consider “Advice” as an inspiration for Kikwang, and think that it definitely should be considered plagiarism.