Beyoncé unveiled her seventh album, ‘Renaissance,’ to rave reviews from critics and fans this week – but another pop artist isn’t singing her praises.
In a series of Instagram posts, singer Kelis slammed Beyoncé for sampling her 2003 single, “Milkshake,” over the new song “Energy,” allegedly without her permission.
“Milkshake,” which appears on Kelis’ “Tasty” album, was written by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, both credited as co-writers on “Energy.” Kelis was not listed as a songwriter on “Milkshake” when it was initially released, and “Energy” does not include her vocals.
Still, that didn’t stop the two-time Grammy nominee from accusing Beyoncé of “stealing” for her use of the song. After an Instagram fan page mentioned the use of “Milkshake” on “Energy” this week, Kelis fired back via her product line’s verified account, Bounty & Full.
“My mind is also blown because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance from all 3 parties involved is staggering,” she wrote in the comments to the post. “Nothing is ever what it seems, some people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have fooled everyone.”
On Thursday, Kelis amplified her stance in a pair of videos posted to her personal Instagram account.
“The reality is, my real beef isn’t just with Beyoncé, because, at the end of the day, she sampled a record,” she said in one. “She’s copied me before, she’s done that before, just like a lot of other artists. It’s okay, I don’t care about that. »
“The problem is that not only are we women artists, okay? Black female artists in an industry [where] there are not that many of us,” she continued. “We met, we know each other, we have mutual friends. It’s not hard. She can contact, right? »
In a later video, she added, “It’s not a collaboration. It’s called stealing because the definition of collaboration means we work together. There is no collaboration if you don’t check in to see if everything is okay.
Representatives for Beyoncé and Williams did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on Kelis’s remarks.
Since Kelis isn’t listed as a writer on “Milkshake” and isn’t the song’s copyright holder, her claims probably won’t carry much legal weight. The singer, however, has repeatedly called out Williams and Hugo, claiming they haven’t properly credited or compensated her for her work.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2020, Kelis said she was “lied to and blatantly deceived” by The Neptunes early in her career, claiming Williams stole “all my posts”.
The Huffington Gt