Beyoncé Removes The “Milkshake” Sample From “ENERGY” After Kelis Called Her Out

Kelis’ “Milkshake” brings all the boys to the yard — but not Beyoncé or the producers behind the mega-hit. Beyoncé has removed the interpolation of Kelis’ 2003 hit from her Renaissance track “ENERGY” on streaming services, after she accused Bey and production duo The Neptunes, which comprises of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, of “theft” before the song’s release.

On July 28, the day before Renaissance officially came out, a Kelis fan account reported that a sample of “Milkshake” would be featured on the album. Kelis left several comments on the post, revealing that she found out “the same way everyone else did,” and wasn’t contacted about it. “My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding,” she wrote. When a fan remarked that “ENERGY” was the “collab the world really needs,” Kelis responded, “It’s not a collab it’s theft.”

While Kelis is the artist who made “Milkshake” famous, only Williams and Hugo are credited as songwriters and producers on the song, an issue that she has spoken out against multiple times. This means that Beyoncé was not required to get Kelis’ permission to interpolate the hit.

However, the “Bossy” singer still expressed disappointment in Beyoncé for not giving her a heads-up in two Instagram videos, pointing out how 26-year-old singer Ashnikko reached out when sampling her breakout single “Caught Out There” in 2021. “Not only are we 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, right?” she said. “It’s just common decency.”

She went on to emphasize that the problem didn’t lie solely with Bey, saying the interpolation was a “trigger” after years of tension with The Neptunes. “Publishing was stolen, people were swindled out of rights,” she said. “It happens all the time, especially back then. So it’s not about me being mad about Beyoncé... 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.”

In a January 2020 interview with The Guardian, Kelis explained that she doesn’t make any money from her first two albums due to a dispute with Williams and Hugo, who have the writing credits on those albums, claiming that she was “blatantly lied to and tricked” by The Neptunes and their team. “I was told we were going to split the whole thing 33/33/33, which we didn’t do,” she said. “Their argument is, ‘Well, you signed it.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I signed what I was told, and I was too young and too stupid to double-check it.’”

In the second Instagram video, Kelis said the debacle has “fueled” her to fight for writing credits on her early records once again. “It’s beyond this song at this point,” she captioned the post. “There are bullies 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.”