Beyoncé (40) has to go back to her album “Renaissance”, which was released last Friday. After she changed the song “Heated” because of an offensive expression, the song “Energy” also had to go under the knife. This time it’s about a musical quote.
The song subtly incorporates an allusion to the well-known Kelis hit “Milkshake” from 2003, more precisely: the “La la la la” passage from the chorus. Beyoncé sings this at the end of her song – which is more of a quote than an official sample.
Apparently, Kelis was not informed of this or asked for permission. Kelis (42) shared her dissatisfaction with this procedure last Friday via social media. “It’s not a collaboration, it’s theft,” she complained in a comment on Instagram, according to NME.
The song “Milkshake” was originally written and officially produced by The Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams (49) and Chad Hugo (48). The two musicians were also credited as songwriters – Kelis was only mentioned as the “performing” artist. Apparently behind Kelis’ irritation there is another injustice she sees.
In one of her video statements last week, the musician also claimed that Williams didn’t write any of her songs, so she owned the songwriter credits. She also made that clear on Instagram. There she emphasized that it would have been a trigger for her and that it was about more than the new song. “There are bullies and secrets and gangsters in this industry who smile and get away with it until someone says enough is enough,” she clarified.
Apparently Beyoncé didn’t want to get involved in this argument with her credits. According to “NME”, none of the “Milkshake” artists are now named in the credits of the Tidal streaming service or Apple Music. Instead, the “La la la la” chorus section was removed from the song.
It’s the second belated change to Beyoncé’s long-awaited new album. In the song “Heated” the singer used a word that could offend people with disabilities. She apologized in a statement on social media and removed the line of text in the latest version.
