Kelis Calls Out Beyonce And Pharrell Over Song Use On ‘Renaissance’
Beyonce’s seventh studio album, Renaissance, has finally arrived and her faithful Beyhive fanbase has rejoiced in celebration. But singer Kelis is unhappy about the use of her music in one of the LP’s songs, so much that she’s called Queen Bey’s actions thievery.
Following the unauthorized leak of the album, the singer and chef caught wind of the interpolated use of her 2003 single “Milkshake” through an Instagram post on a Kelis fan account pointing out a musical collaboration between the singers on the Renaissance track, “Energy.”
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“My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding,” she wrote in the comments with her chef account @bountyandfull. “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.” To another comment, she replied, “it’s not a collab. It’s theft.”
The Kaleidoscope artist took to her @kelis Instagram account to share a video reel and elaborate on her frustration and the “retarded comments.”
“My real beef is not only with Beyonce,” Kelis declared. “She sampled a record. She copied me before, and so have many other artists. It’s fine. The issue is, not only are we female artists, but we’re Black female artists in an industry where there isn’t that many of us. We’ve met each other, we know each other, we have mutual friends, she can contact me, it’s not that hard. It’s common decency.”
Kelis continued, explaining that Beyonce’s choice to include a sample from “Milkshake” was allegedly driven by Pharrell being petty and Chad Hugo being “spineless.”
“The real issue is the people like Pharrell and Chad [Hugo]. Chad is an amoeba, he’s spineless, and it’s a miracle he can keep his neck up. But Pharrell knows better. This is a direct hit at me. He does this stuff all the time. It’s very petty,” she claimed.
After the official release of “Energy,” the singer returned to Instagram to conclude her rant, doubling down on everything she expressed in her previous video.
“This was a trigger for me. ‘Milkshake’ alone is one of the most licensed records of our generation,” Rogers-Mora typed in her second video’s caption. “I am a creator. I’m an innovator. I have done more than left my mark on an era of music and style that will go down in history.
“But 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. Peace.”
In 2020, Kelis disclosed her displeasure with The Neptunes with The Guardian and revealed she made nothing from the sales of her first two albums.
“I was told we were going to split the whole thing 33/33/33, which we didn’t do,” she told the outlet. Kelis maintained that she was “blatantly lied to and tricked” during the recording of her debut album, Kaleidoscope.
Watch Kelis’ Instagram Reel videos above and below.