Kelis Says Beyonce Has 'No Soul' & They're Beefing Over A Sampled Song On Bey's New Album
Kelis described Beyonce's actions as "stupid and disrespectful."
Beyonce. Right: Kelis.
Beyonce's seventh studio album just dropped and while her legions of fans are thrilled, singer Kelis is absolutely furious about one song in particular.
Kelis is perhaps best known for bringing all the boys to the yard with "Milkshake," but she's bringing the fire right now after Beyonce used part of that song for "Energy," one of the tracks on Bey's new album.
But that's not the real issue, according to Kelis. "She's copied me before. She's done it before, so have many other artists. It's fine."
She says her "real beef" is with Beyonce, her collaborators and her staff, because none of them reached out to give her a heads-up about using the song.
"It's just common decency," Kelis said in a video rant posted on Instagram. She says she knows Beyonce and the singer easily could've gotten in touch, and it was "stupid and disrespectful" of her not to.
"I know it was on purpose," she said. "It's very petty. It's very stupid."
She also suggested that Beyonce's most passionate defenders are "sheep" for not seeing her side of it.
Kelis also blasted two of Beyonce's collaborators, Pharrell Williams and producer Chad Hugo, for leaving her in the dark about the song.
"Chad really is like an amoeba," she said. "He's spineless. It's a miracle he can keep his head up."
Ouch.
Kelis posted that rant on her Instagram after initially blasting Beyonce through her chef account, @bountyandfull.
"Some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled," she wrote in the comments on a fan Instagram page.
Here is Kelis' "Milkshake."
And here is Beyonce's "Energy."
Although Kelis didn't get a heads-up, her name does appear in the credits for "Energy" alongside Hugo and Pharrell.
"Contains an interpolation of "Milkshake" written by Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and performed by Kelis," the credits say.
Pharrell Williams controls the master tracks to much of Kelis's work, meaning he can decide what happens to that music.
Beyonce hasn't addressed Kelis' comments at this point, although she did lament that her album leaked this week ahead of its scheduled release. Pharrell and Hugo also have not addressed Kelis' claims.
Renaissance is Beyonce's seventh solo studio album and her first since Lemonade in 2016.