Kelis has called out Beyoncé for allegedly using part of her song “Milkshake” on a song on Renaissance called “Energy.” From a post on the fan page @kellistrends the singer wrote from her verified account for her company Bounty & Full: “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.” A fan commented, “the collab the world really needs,” and in response, Kelis clapped back writing, “it’s not a collab it’s theft.”
Additionally, the “Milkshake” singer uploaded a video to her account with the caption calling out Beyoncé, “Not only are we Black female artists in an industry where there’s not that many of us, we’ve met each other, we know each other, we have mutual friends. It’s not that hard to contact [me],” she said. “It’s just common decency … even if you’re gonna do it anyway.”
However, the “Bossy” songstress said that the real beef lies between her and Pharrell who she says “swindled” her out of the rights to her music.
“Pharell knows better,” she claimed. “This is a direct hit at me. The reality is, this is frustrating. I have the right to be frustrated.”
In the caption of a second video post Kelis wrote: “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.”
The singer shared a follow-up to her first video calling out the music industry. “There are bully’s [sic] 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.”
Renaissance is out now and the full credits reveal that “Milkshake” is not actually sampled; rather, “Energy” uses an interpolation of the record. An interpolation is, per Rolling Stone, when an artist uses a snippet of an already-recorded song in the creation of something new. Beyoncé’s team has not publicly responded to Kelis’ claims.
Take a look at Kelis’ videos and fan takes on the incident below:
