Kelis Claims “Theft” by Beyoncé’s Latest Album and We’re Feeling a Sense of Déjà Vu

Queen Bey has finally dropped her seventh studio album, Renaissance, and a lot of people have a lot to say about it. Including R&B singer Kelis.

In an Instagram post on a Kelis fan page, the singer commented on Beyoncé’s album via her verified company account Bounty & Full. The fan account @kelistrends had written, “@Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE album will include a @kelis sample on the song ‘Energy’.”

Kelis then commented, “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.”

In a subsequent comment she wrote, “[I]t’s not a collab it’s theft.”

Once the full credits were released for Beyoncé’s album, the credits state that “Energy” “[c]ontains an Interpolation of ‘Milkshake’ [Kelis’ song] Written by Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Performed by Kelis.”

In light of Kelis’ statements and the subsequent album credit reveal, we can’t help but think that we’ve been here before. Remember when the indie-pop band Lucius claimed that they were left out of Harry Styles’ featured album credits for their vocals on “Treat People With Kindness”?

“It just hurt,” Jess Wolfe of Lucius said at the time. “Here was an opportunity to spread the love a little bit, which he purports to do all the time. And it could’ve really helped us. I’ve been to Harry shows and he’s always been very charming and kind. We’ve sung live with him.”

Gives you an eerie feeling of déjà vu, doesn’t it?

While we’re not here to dub one or the other right or wrong, we do find the matter at hand curious. Is this merely an attempt to ride the coattails of an album release or something more? What does all this mean for the future of song ownership? Only time will tell.

Tell us your thoughts and comment below.

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