Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Beyoncé has moved to remove the interpolation from a smash hit by Kelis from her latest album after the singer spoke out about not being contacted at all during the process of creating the song.
According to reports, the original version of “Energy” off of the superstar’s recent album Renaissance featured her singing a variation of a recognizable line from Kelis’ 2003 hit “Milkshake” from her album, Tasty. The “la-la, la-la, la” line is in the pre-chorus of the track, produced by the Neptunes. As of Wednesday morning (August 3rd), that interpolation is no longer on the song when streamed on Tidal and Spotify. There are reports that it is still present when the song is streamed on YouTube and Apple Music.
Hours after the album’s release, Kelis voiced her displeasure about being shut out of the process of the song’s production. “My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding,” Kelis wrote in a comment on a post under her Instagram cooking account, @bountyandfull. “Nothing is ever as it seems, some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity, and they have everyone fooled.” In response to a fan who showered praise believing it was a collaboration, Kelis said: “It’s not a collab it’s theft.”
She would later express herself fully through two Instagram posts on her own account. “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 than left my mark on an era of music and style that will go down in history,” she wrote.
Kelis would go on to state that “human decency” should’ve compelled Beyonce to contact her about the usage of the song, but also stated that the entire situation was “really not about Beyoncé.” The Neptunes, aka Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, are credited with being songwriters and producers of “Milkshake”, and are also credited as such on most of the singer’s earlier recordings. Kelis adamantly maintains that she was not properly credited or compensated for her work with the Neptunes.
