Kelis lashed out at Beyoncé late Thursday after learning that one of her songs was sampled on a track on the superstar’s new album Renaissance.
“I just heard the record everyone is saying has my sample. I am a creator , I’m an innovator, I have done more then left my mark on an era of music and style that will go down in history,” Kelis wrote on Instagram.
“But 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.”
The 42-year-old singer’s 2000 song “Get Along With You,” which was written and produced by The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), is sampled on Beyoncé’s “Energy.” As such, Williams and Hugo are included in the track’s credits.
“My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding,” Kelis wrote in a reply to a fan’s comment. “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 another response to a fan’s comment about the sample, Kelis alleged: “It’s theft.”
In a video she posted on Instagram, Kelis said: “Last night, I was … just doing my own thing, and I saw one of my fan pages and someone was like, ‘Oh, it’s a collaboration between Bey and Kelis.’ No, it’s not a collaboration – it’s called thievery, because the definition of ‘collaboration’ means that we are working together.
“There’s no working together if you are not even checking to see if everything’s cool. That’s a problem.”
Kelis added that she and Beyoncé are “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 hard, she can contact [me], right?”
The singer said Beyoncé’s female empowerment mantra “only counts if you really do it – if you’re really living it and walking the walk.”
Kelis directed most of her anger at Williams. “Pharrell knows better. This is a direct hit at me [and] he does this stuff all the time… The reason I’m annoyed is because I know it was on purpose. This is not like some, ‘Oh, they were in the studio…’ No. No, this was an on-purpose, direct hit, which is very passive aggressive, it’s very petty, it’s very stupid…”
Last month, singer Robin S said she found out that her ‘90s hit “Show Me Love” is sampled on Beyoncé’s single “Break My Soul” only when her son told her she was trending on Twitter. The song was written and produced by Allen George and Fred McFarlane, who are credited on “Break My Soul.”
Still, Robin S was grateful. “I can’t even. Just wow. A lot of thanks,” she said. “Thank you so much for giving me my flowers while I’m still alive. I am honoured, and I’m excited to see what else can happen."