Beyoncé removes Kelis samples from Energy
Beyoncé has removed two allegedly "unauthorised" samples of two Kelis songs from her 'Renaissance' song 'Energy' on some streaming platforms.
Fans of the 40-year-old megastar have noticed the interpolations of 2003 hit 'Milkshake' and 1999's 'Get Along With You' can now longer be heard on the TIDAL and Apple Music versions of 'Energy', just days after Kelis accused the 'Crazy in Love' hitmaker of using them without her approval.
'Energy' noticeably used the repeated lyric “la la la la” from 'Milkshake'.
Kelis also called out Neptunes producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who were listed as co-writers on 'Energy', as they wrote and produced her two songs.
The 42-year-old singer branded Beyoncé "utterly ignorant" for only giving the original songwriters credit.
She wrote on Instagram after the release of 'Renaissance' last week: "My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding. 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. It's not a collab, it's theft! It’s ridiculous! (sic)"
Back in 2020, Kelis also accused Pharrell and Chad of failing to adhere to their agreement to split the profits from her first two albums equally and claimed she had been "lied to" and "tricked" by the songwriting duo.
She said: "I was told we were going to split the whole thing 33/33/33, which we didn’t do. I was blatantly lied to and tricked by the Neptunes and their management and their lawyers and all that stuff and just the fact that I wasn’t poor felt like enough. Their argument is: ‘Well, you signed it.’ I’m like: ‘Yeah, I signed what I was told, and I was too young and too stupid to double-check it.'
"I think if it were not for my faith, I feel like I would probably be [angry]. It’s very clear to me, especially being on a farm, that whatever you put in the ground, that is what’s going to come back to you."
The removal of the samples comes after Beyoncé recently removed an "ableist" slur from the album's track 'Heated'.
The lyrics included: "Sp*****’ on that ass, s*** on that ass/Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass."
A representative for the 'Halo' hitmaker responded: "The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced."
