2 Chainz and Ariana Grande continue to make lemonade out of that plagiarism scandal!
The rapper and pop star sit side-by-side in the freshly-dropped music video for Rule the World — his new track that Ari sings on as part of a musical truce between the two.
These unifying visuals come months after the two artists found themselves embroiled in a hot-pink plagiarism controversy. In February, the songstress got heat after dropping her track 7 Rings, which fans pointed out was a little too reminiscent of 2 Chainz’s track Spend It.
The scandal evolved when the 26-year-old released the song’s music video, which fans say swiped the aesthetic of the hip hop artist’s Pretty Girls Like Trap Music album cover. Eventually, 2 Chainz decided to meet with the allegedly thieving Ariana face-to-face.
Related: Ariana Grande Actually Recorded 3 Versions Of ‘Thank U, Next’?!
The 41-year-old recalled in an interview with Genius:
“They set it up so we could actually meet and talk face to face… I think that kind of changed everything because I started getting what was going on, having a clear understanding of what was going on. She was more or less saying that, ‘Well, yeah, I thought people knew I took it from you.’ And I said, ‘Well, how would people know that?’… What kinda points do I get off snapping on Ariana Grande or dissing her? I don’t get anything off that.”
Many assumed this scandal would lead to the music industry’s next greatest feud. What fans got instead, however, was a beautiful partnership.
During their meeting, the two agreed that, instead of fight, they would join musical forces: 2 Chainz would rap on the 7 rings (Remix) and Ari would sing on Rule the World.
Now, the two are basically best friends. The duo take on a Los Angeles jazz club in the Sebastian Sdaigui-directed video for the track (above), where the 25-year-old can be seen leaning on 2 Chainz looking all like…
Who ever said collabs can’t solve your problems?
Suck on that, critics.
This is just one of the many controversies the Sweetener songstress has gotten herself into as of late.
Last month, Ari was called out for headlining the Manchester Pride festival, which some saw as her “exploiting” the LGBT community. Then, just last week, she was criticized for releasing a drink at Starbucks that isn’t vegan, despite her purportedly being vegan since 2013.
Let’s not forget… Ariana was also accused by rapper Princess Nokia of ripping off her work for 7 Rings — who, as far as we know, is still waiting for her remix of the No. 1 song.