HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JULY 09: (EDITORS NOTE: Retransmission with alternate crop.) Beyonce Knowles-Carter attends the World Premiere of Disney's "THE LION KING" at the Dolby Theatre on July 09, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
A discussion about the Black community and AAVE (African American Vernacular English) was a trending topic on Tuesday morning after Beyoncé removed the word “spaz” from her song.
Beyoncé received backlash after “Renaissance” dropped because she used the word “spaz,” which is viewed by the disabled community and those in the UK as an ableist slur. In the track titled “Heated,” the mother of three says: “Sp*zzin’ on that a**, sp*z on that a**.” She recently changed the lyric to “blast.”
People on Twitter created a discussion centering AAVE and the Black community. Some people stated the artist shouldn’t have changed AAVE because for the Black community and in the US, it is a verb, not a noun, which is why it is not a slur.
A person tweeted:
Another person said:
Someone else added:
A person also expressed:
Another person added:
If you recall, Lizzo also changed a lyric to a song after receiving backlash for using the same word. In the track “Grrrl’s,” Lizzo stated: “Do you see this s**t/I’mma spazz.” But she changed the song to “Do you see this s**t/Hold me back.”
She released an apology to her fans and said in part:
It’s been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song “GRRRLS.” Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language. As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally).
Roomies, what do you think of this?
