Beyoncé just dropped her new album ‘Renaissance’ and singer Kelis had something to say about it!
“The reality is that my REAL beef is not ONLY with Beyoncé, she sampled a record, she’s copied me before, so have many other artists—it’s fine, I don’t care about that. Not only are we Black female artists in this industry, we’ve met each other, we know each other, we have mutual friends—it’s not hard, it’s just common decency…”
– Kelis
Just two days before the release of Beyoncé’s long awaited album songs were leaked. Kelis then took to Instagram claiming she wasn’t properly credited for a song set to appear on the forthcoming album. The controversy started after an Instagram fan page dedicated to Kelis revealed a list of artists sampled on the highly anticipated release.
It turned out that Kelis and the late great Teena Marie are credited on the star’s new song called “Energy.” While fans were actually excited about this, Kelis had a different reaction.
A Kelis and Teena Marie sample on a track sounds like a hit to me! I can’t wait to hear “Energy” and the rest of the album!
— 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚌𝚊. (@MJFINESSELOVER) July 25, 2022
Get along with you has been on repeat since I found out about the Beyoncé sample. Kelis really deserves her flowers!
— IT GIRL 💖 (@itgirlchels) July 27, 2022
The “Milkshake” singer took to the comment section, noting how she wasn’t even aware that her song was being sampled on the project.
“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.”
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Kelis also made it very clear that she had a few grievances with people celebrating the seemingly unauthorized sample.
It’s not a collab, it’s theft. I said what I said , cause it’s the truth . You don’t have to like it or agree . Facts are facts . If you’re a sheep keep it movin this convo will be over your head . I didn’t ask for this , but I’m not afraid of it either .
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After going live and calling out the “sheep” aka Beyhive, she added a second video blasting the music industry business and calling out fellow musicians Pharrell and Beyoncé of hypocrisy.
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I just heard the record everyone is saying has my sample . But it’s beyond this song at this point . This was a TRIGGER for me . Milkshake alone is one of the most licensed records of our generation. I am a creator , I’m an innovator, I have done more then left my mark on an era of music and style that will go down in history . But there are bully’s 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. Peace.
Beyoncé did give Kelis a song credit, but obviously that was not enough for her she wasn’t going to sit quiet about this one.