Did Kelis Get Royalties From Beyonce Sampling Her Song?

Publish date: 2024-08-28

Beyoncé's seventh solo album, Renaissance, topped the charts. The much-anticipated album was released in July 2022 and has received rave reviews so far. However, with the praise came criticism. The star has been heavily criticized for sampling several artists on Renaissance. She was slammed by Kelis for using her track Milkshake without permission on the song Energy.

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After the controversy, Beyoncé removed the sample from the song Energy. However, that didn't stop people from digging into the superstar's discography to find other artists that she's sampled in the past. Bey has also been accused of 'stealing' choreography and concepts from other artists. These accusations have been around for decades, although, Beyoncé has never publicly addressed them.

Beyoncé Cut The Interpolation Of Milkshake From Energy

Beyoncé isn't only an outstanding singer, but she's also an amazing performer and fashionista. With her level of success comes scandal, criticism, and controversy.

Following the release of her seventh studio album, Renaissance, the singer was called out by Kelis for allegedly sampling her song without permission.

After Kelis took to social media to call out Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, the Break my Soul singer removed the interpolation of Milkshake from her song. Pharrell and Chad were the credited writers of Milkshake, while Kelis was only credited for performing the song.

The duo was originally credited as composers on Beyoncé's song Energy. However, after the backlash and the update of the song, they are no longer credited.

According to The Guardian, "Beyoncé has removed an interpolation of Kelis’ song Milkshake from her new song Energy, days after removing an ableist slur from another song on her latest album Renaissance. At the end of the original version of Energy, Beyoncé sang a series of “las” to the tune sung by Kelis in the 2003 hit song Milkshake."

Bey's Been Accused Of 'Stealing' From Other Artists In The Past

After the Kelis controversy, Beyoncé was accused of sampling Right Said Fred's song I'm Too Sexy on her song Alien Superstar, without their permission.

The star refuted the claims and revealed that the band has been credited as co-writers on the track. There have been numerous theft accusations against Beyoncé over the years,

In 2016, choreographer Marlyn Ortiz accused Bey of nicking choreography and concepts by other artists.

She called out the singer in an Instagram post, writing, "I'm sorry, I don't bash artist! But I respect fellow creative artist…and don't like to use social media to promote something that can be perceived as negativity…

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She continued, "Beyoncé, you have the nerve to steal exact concepts n choreography from other real creative geniuses. You stole from @breakingsurface you stole the stomping from #delaguarda @fuerzabrutanyc it's ok to be inspired, but at least make the effort to make it your own… Also, crazyhorseparis_official the saddle scene!! Let's keep it real, people!!!

The Beyhive Is Standing By Its Queen

Beyoncé has had a long illustrious career, she's put her heart and soul into her music and that hasn't gone unnoticed by fans. She has a loyal fan base that has pretty much supported her since her Destiny's Child days.

The Beyhive has Beyoncé's back and despite all the backlash and theft accusations she's received over the years, their support doesn't waver.

On a Reddit thread asking why the singer was hated on the platform, one Redditor said, "It deeply irks them that a woman of color is highly respected and venerated by the masses. The haters, at this point, are more obsessed with Beyoncé than the stans. They wait and stake out every moment to spread such hate and talk s*** about her."

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They continued, "Like… if I didn’t like someone, I wouldn’t waste my time and energy thinking or talking about them or their existence. But for the haters, they’re a different breed and increasingly troubled. It’s blind hate and criticism, too, because they use the same tired talking points (overrated, can’t sing, etc.) that just don’t make any sense or understanding of how the music industry works."

One thing critics can't take away from Bey is that she's got one heck of a vocal range and is a spectacular performer. She tops the charts, has won tons of awards, and sells out arenas.

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