While many were eagerly awaiting the release of Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’, her first studio album in six years, Kelis is once again calling out people in the music industry for testing her work without her knowledge.
According to Kelis, she was never told that Beyoncé would be using a sample of a song from her 1999 debut album, ‘Kaleidoscope’, for one of the songs that make up her new album and called it an act of “theft”. She had been contacted about the song – which was written by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo in the year 2000 – prior to its release.
Pointed out the “level of disrespect and total ignorance of the 3 parties involved”, a clear reference to Beyoncé, Williams and Hugo, and amplified his frustration in a couple of videos that he later posted on his Instagram profile.
“I am very surprised by such lack of respect and the absolute ignorance of the three parties involved, which is amazing. I found out about this the same way everyone else did. Nothing is what it seems, some people in this business have no soul or integrity and have everyone fooled. It’s not a collaboration, it’s a robbery. It’s ridiculous!“, He pointed out.
In 2020, the singer-songwriter also accused Pharrell and Chad -also known as The Neptunes- of not fulfilling their agreement of dividing the benefits of his first two albums equally and also that the songwriting duo had “lied” and “cheated” on him.
“They told me that we were going to divide it all 33/33/33, which we did not do. The Neptunes blatantly lied to me and cheated me with their management, their lawyers and all that. Their argument was that I had signed the contract, but I really did sign what I was told and I was too young and too stupid to check it out. I think if it wasn’t for my faith, I’d probably be mad. I am very clear, especially being on a farm, that whatever you sow, you will reap”, he sentenced.
The album ‘Renaissance’ by Beyoncé hit streaming services this 29 July, though the 16 tracks were leaked online two days before.