Zayn Malik has dismissed accusations of plagiarism plaguing his debut album cover.

The singer unveiled the artwork for his upcoming record 'Mind of Mine' this week on the Tonight Show.

It shows the Brit as a young child, but he is sporting tattoos.

Many people likened this to the cover of Lil Wayne's 2008 effort 'Tha Carter III', which features a toddler photo with tattoos.

Speaking on Twitter overnight, Malik denied copying the idea.

He said: "I'm not tryna be no rapper , my album is me a child .. My ideas have been with me a long time.

"Use your brain, appreciate art don't discriminate what you don't understand."

Malik later retweeted a fan's post saying that he was just "following legends" who have previously had similar ideas.

Incidentally, the former One Direction man recently Snapchatted an audio clip that appeared to be Lil Wayne featuring on a remix of his track 'Pillowtalk'.

'Mind of Mine' will be released on March 25.

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