Beyoncé Has Changed Another Song On ‘Renaissance’ Amid Beef With Kelis
This is the second song she's had to change.
Less than one week after the release of her new album Renaissance, Beyoncé has already made two major changes after receiving backlash from fans and artists alike.
Just yesterday, the music icon announced she would remove an ableist slur from her track ‘Heated’, and now she is amending her song ‘Energy’ to remove an interpolation of Kelis’ ‘Milkshake’.
The original version of the song featured Beyoncé singing the iconic “la-la, la-la, la” from Kelis’ track, but a newly-released version of the song on streaming services is sans “la”. The amendment comes after Kelis blasted Beyoncé on social media for interpolating her without credit or permission.
“My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all three parties involved is astounding,” Kelis said. “I heard about this the same way everyone else did. Nothing is ever as it seems, some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled,” said Kelis. She added: “it’s not a collab, it’s theft”.
Kelis also commented that the industry is full of bullies and that she wants compensation.
“It’s beyond this song at this point,” she wrote in an Instagram caption. “There are bullies and secrets and gangsters in this industry that smile and get away with it until someone says enough is enough. So, I’m saying it today. I’m coming for what’s mine and I want reparations.”
Kelis’ credit on the song becomes slightly more complex on account of the fact that she was not officially credited as a writer or producer on the original track — which lists Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo as composers and writers. The ‘Milkshake’ singer has also called out Williams for allegedly ripping her off on purpose.
“Pharrell knows better,” she said in an Instagram video. “This is a direct hit at me [and] he does this stuff all the time. The reason I’m annoyed is because I know it was on purpose.”
Both Williams and Hugo are still credited on Beyoncé’s song. Beyoncé is yet to publicly comment on the change.