Azealia Banks Calls Out Beyoncé For ‘Stealing’ From Robin S On ‘Break My Soul’

It’s hard to understand how Azealia Banks’ brain works sometimes. Last week, the rapper and noted provocateur vehemently asked people to stop making mash-ups of her music with Beyoncé’s latest single “Break My Soul.” “Please for the love of God,” she posted on her Instagram Story. “They are horrible.” And look, we’ll give her that. She didn’t ask for her music to be thrust alongside Bey’s. But as we try to make sense of how Banks’ mind works, she was clearly perturbed my these mash-ups for a reason. Today, back on her Instagram story soap box, she went on a tirade accusing Beyoncé of “stealing” from Robin S, and then some.

For posterity, her actual words claimed that Bey, “…is out here pretending to support Black divas with bouquets of wilted flowers after stealing their art, arrogantly assuming they don’t have money for legal counsel… and muscling them into making stock PR statements to cover up this messy album roll out..”

Ok, let’s backtrack for a second. Beyoncé sampled Robin S’ 90s house hit “Show Me Love” on “Break My Soul,” and fully credited her as a songwriter. While Robin S said that she was not contacted ahead of time, she did post a video thanking Beyoncé and her team (including Jay-Z) profusely, saying, “Thank you so much for giving me my flowers while I’m still alive.”

It’s safe to say that Robin S stands to make a dandy sum from royalty checks off of “Break My Soul,” but Banks, who has noted beefs with everyone from Cardi B to Elon Musk, thinks she sees right through Beyoncé’s intent. She suggests that the best way for Beyoncé to repent for this sin of “stealing,” is to provide an, “update on Koi Knowles,” the alleged sister and daughter of Bey’s father, Mathew Knowles. Or as Banks calls her, “…your little sister you think we forgot about?” Here’s Banks’ full post from her Instagram Story:

Azealia Banks Instagram
Azealia Banks/Instagram

It’s hard to understand how the two issues are analogous, but it makes sense to Azealia Banks? An hour after calling out Beyoncé, Banks posted a video of her song, “I Rule The World,” on her Instagram, which has been out since February. Just another day for Ms. Banks…

An Emotional Robin S. Thanks Beyoncé Profusely For Being Sampled On ‘Break My Soul’

“Show Me Love” by Robin S. isn’t just a banger: It’s one of the ultimate 90s house bangers. The diva house classic dominated top-40 radio when it came out in 1990 and has maintained its pizzazz in the 30-plus years since. The remixes and then the remixes of the remixes are still dancefloor staples at clubs around the world because Robin S. brought pure heat to the thunderous groove. And now as we begin to reckon with hip-hop’s inevitable shift towards dance music production thanks to Drake’s surprise dance music album, Honestly, Nevermind, and Beyoncé’s surprise single, “Break My Soul,” it’s time to give credit to innovators like Robin S. when it’s due.

This is exactly what Beyoncé did on “Break My Soul.” The “Crazy In Love” star’s new track uses the infectious stem from “Show Me Love” throughout her new single and it’s just the greatest hat tip imaginable to Robin S. In a recent video that surfaced of Robin S., she’s over the moon at the inclusion of her hit on what’s sure to be one of this summer’s biggest pop music hits.

“This is Robin S. and this message goes out to the Queen Bey herself, Beyoncé,” the emotional singer said in the clip. “To Jay-Z, to the entire team… Thank you so much for giving me my flowers while I’m still alive. I am honored and I am excited to see what else can happen.”

Robin S. said her son called her to say that she was “trending all over the place,” and that even though she was not contacted ahead of time before “Show Me Love” was sampled in “Break My Soul,” she added, “Maybe we can do a collab together. That’s always a dream.”

Watch a clip of Robin S.’s video message above and watch the original video for “Show Me Love” below.