Beyonce and Lizzo Photo: via Getty Images
Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” dropped last week to much fanfare, however, some fans were not feeling a phrase she used in one of the album’s tracks.
In the song “Heated,” the singer includes the lyric “Sp*zzin’ on that a**, sp*z on that a**,” with the word “sp*z” being viewed by the disabled community as an ableist slur.
She has since faced backlash for using the word, with disability advocate Hannah Diviney writing “my heart sank” when she heard it in an op-ed for The Guardian.
Representatives for Beyoncé confirmed that the lyric would be changed as a result in a statement obtained by Insider.
“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” the statement said.
The change in lyrics comes just a month after Lizzo made a similar announcement regarding the same word, tweeting fans that she would replace the phrase in her single “Grrrls” following backlash upon its release.
“Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language. As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had so many hurtful words used against me so I understand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case unintentionally)” Lizzo tweeted. “I’m proud to say there’s a new version of GRRRLS with a lyric change.”
“Renaissance” has surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify as of Sunday.
And despite the criticism, “Queen B” is set to score her seventh No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with the new record, as “Renaissance” is projected to earn between 275,000 and 315,000 equivalent album units, according to Hits Daily Double.
What do you think, Roomies? Should Beyonce and Lizzo change the word in question, or are they protected by free speech and their artistic expression?
