A conflict has erupted on the Kazakh pop scene involving singers MEREY and Ayau. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

The subject of the dispute is the floral aesthetics of last year's release by MEREY (Merey Aimbetova) — Higanbana, and the fresh album LALAGÜL by Ayau (Ayaulym Kusain). Initially, some fans noticed the thematic similarity of the two records, as both artists referenced flowers. Singer MEREY also noticed this.

Higanbana was released in November 2025, while LALAGÜL came out in June 2026. After that, MEREY published previous promos on social media explaining the idea of each track. According to the singer, she tried to contact Ayau about this issue but only managed to speak with producer M'Dee.

"We corresponded until five in the morning. His position was this: 'We were not inspired by you. We didn't write to you in advance because no one from our team saw your album and promo. You are neither the first nor the last to make a conceptual album,'" wrote MEREY.

According to the singer, Ayau's team could not have missed the similarity with her 2025 release.

"Let people listen and compare who did a better job connecting the album with flowers. Considering that I did everything myself, literally on my knee, with God's help and through friends and acquaintances. I had no producer, no label, no investment. I wanted, I came up with, I nurtured this idea — and I did it," the singer stated.

After these statements, accusations of plagiarism rained down on Ayau's label from social media users. Fans of both singers began to notice coincidences not only in flowers but also in images.

Later, Ayau stated that the concept of LALAGÜL appeared long before the release of Higanbana.

"The song 'LALAGÜL' was written back in May 2025, and many demos of this project have existed for 2–3 years. Therefore, the claim that this idea appeared after the release of her album simply does not correspond to the real chronology. Moreover, flowers were part of the visual design of my first solo concert," the artist wrote on Threads.

Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle wrote about why the viral track "Shade" is being criticized. The song became embroiled in a scandal with accusations of bullying and threats.