Beyoncé may be slowly removing the Kelis sample in 'Energy' from Renaissance

Although Beyoncé's Renaissance may be a flawless album, its rollout has certainly been marked by a few hiccups. In the latest development, it appears Bey is removing samples of Kelis used on "Energy" after the "Milkshake" singer accused her of theft.

The Spotify version of "Energy," at the time of this writing, had the unmistakable "la-la-la-la-la-la, la, la-la" from "Milkshake" while the versions on Tidal and Apple did not.

Reps for Kelis and Beyonce, and Spotify did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images; Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Bey Hive Twitter source The Yoncé Hub first claimed the samples were removed, along with Kelis' credits. However, Kelis wasn't credited in the first place, which is kind of where this all began.

2003's "Milkshake" is one of the definitive songs of the early oughts. Written by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, then known as the production duo The Neptunes, it appeared on Kelis' completely underrated Tasty album, becoming her biggest hit to date.

Beyoncé used a sample from "Milkshake" in "Energy," an infectious bounce track that takes us seamlessly into "Break My Soul." The record credits Williams and Hugo, because they wrote the song, but Kelis was upset that no one — Beyoncé, Williams, or Hugo — bothered to reach out to her before using the sample. She went on Instagram to make her feelings known.

"My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding," Kelis commented on a post announcing the use of the sample. "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."

She later commented that it was not a "collab" but "theft." The singer turned chef went on to clarify that her ire was not solely directed at Mrs. Carter, but rather Williams, calling this a "direct hit" at her and adding that "he does this stuff all the time."

Now it appears that Beyoncé is removing the samples, gradually, across streaming platforms. If the sample was indeed removed, then this is the second instance of the artist editing her work after receiving criticism — which, is a discussion for another time. Bey's reps confirmed earlier that she would be removing an ableist slur used on the song "Heated."

"The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced," read a statement from the singer's camp.

Monica Lewinsky is seemingly getting in on the post-edit notes, suggesting on Twitter that while Beyoncé's reworking lyrics, she should take a look at "Partition," the 2013 banger that referenced Lewinsky and ... an unfortunate accident involving a dress.

Related content:

• Renaissance review: Beyoncé's seventh solo album is a master class in the evolution of dance music

• Kelis calls out Beyoncé's sampling of her song on Renaissance: 'It's not a collab, it's theft'

• Beyoncé to rework Renaissance lyric after ableism accusations

• Monica Lewinsky asks Beyoncé to remove name from 'Partition'