Beyoncé's new album just brought Kelis to the yard—and not in the way you'd think.
The "Milkshake" singer took to social media on July 27 to voice her grievances after news surfaced that "Energy," a song off Beyoncé's seventh studio album Renaissance, featured a sample of her 2003 single. When a Kelis fan page shared a post about the sample on Instagram, the 42-year-old didn't hold back her thoughts in the comments section.
"My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding," she wrote. "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."
The R&B star further claimed, in a separate comment, that she was not informed of the sample. After a fan referred to the new Beyoncé track as a collaboration, Kelis replied, "it's not a collab."
She added in a third comment, "it's ridiculous."
Written and produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, "Milkshake" was released as a part of Kelis' 2003 album Tasty.
The songwriters' names are credited under "Energy" in a tracklist for Renaissance. The composer credits also notes that the song "contains an interpolation of 'Milkshake' written by Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and performed by Kelis."
In Instagram videos shared on July 28, Kelis said that Beyoncé "should have at least reached out" to her about sampling her song. "It's not about me being jealous. Jealous of someone using my song? That's the dumbest, most ignorant thing I've ever heard," she said. "It has to do with the fact that, from one artist to another, you should have the decency and common sense and the courtesy to call."
She went on to say that she does not consider "Energy" to be a collab 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," she added. "That's a problem."
Kelis' comments come ahead of the July 29 release of Renaissance, the first part of a three-part project Beyoncé recorded during the pandemic. The highly anticipated album's lead single "Break My Soul" also includes samples of Big Freedia's "Explode" and "Show Me Love" by Robyn S.
In a statement shared on July 28, Beyoncé called the album a "beautiful journey of exploration."
"I want to give a special thank you to Rumi, Sir and Blue for allowing me the space, creativity, and inspiration," she said, referencing her three kids with Jay-Z. "And a special thanks to my husband and muse, who held me down during those late nights in the studio."
E! News reached out to reps for Beyoncé and her record label but did not hear back.