Beyoncé has spoken, but she did not say a single word about Kelis. She simply removed the song energy from her out. This means Kelis, the Neptunes, and a bunch of other people credited on the song are no longer given any credit on the song. The song is off the album.
At face value this seems like a simple act, but it is not. There is a long ripple effect that will happen. First of all, she would have received royalties from the song. Actually, she does receive royalties from the song. Apparently, the owners of the song, Pharrell and them, didn’t need Kelis’s permission. Chad and Pharrell are about 25% of the song, a source with me told. There is another 50% divided between Kelis, Sony, Empire and others. Most of the people on Beyoncé‘s album did not receive any publishing. They are named though.
The weird thing is legally they still are entitled to monies on the album, even though Beyoncé removed the the song. It’s a sad situation across-the-board, but it’s getting murkier than before because apparently people will still be paid.
I suppose it’s just an artist being an artist. It’s not really about the money, but it’s more about the respect. And, quite frankly, it seems as though her beef is with Pharrell. P-Real! Nobody is saying anything! Kelis has gotten a lot more eyeballs in the recent times, but I am not sure we’ll see her blow like before.