Source: Jeffrey Mayer/Getty
The esteemed journalist for Beyoncé shot back at Erykah Badu recently after claims that the superstar copied a style of her own for the Cowboy Carter release.
There could it's some beef in the Texas heartland as Erykah Badu feels that the latest release of Beyoncé's artwork for her upcoming album, Act II: Cowboy Carter, took from her own style. It started as Beyoncé shared artwork for her limited edition release. The photo shows the singer naked, standing tall and wearing an 'Act II Beyoncé' banner (a tribute to Tina Knowles' mother's maiden name) with a lit cigar while wearing a long braided hairstyle.
The image didn't go down well with Erykah Badu, who posted the image on her Instagram Stories with a simple caption, “Hmmm.” The “Window Seat” artist added a little more nuance with another post on the social media platform, which featured a photo of her rocking a braided hairstyle with white translucent beads which she pinned to the top of her mesh. The 53-year-old artist showed off the hairstyle last month during her birthday concert in Dallas.
The message wasn't lost on Beyoncé's legion of fans, known as the BeyHive, and they immediately let her know in the comments of the post. “No disrespect to Beyoncé not trying to copy you, and on top of that, it's a damn hairstyle that's been around for a long time in the black community!!” one user wrote. Yvette Noel-Schure – who has worked extensively with Beyoncé for 20 years – gave the final say with her own social media post, a montage of the superstar's looks from her rise with Destiny's Child to now , including the Lemonade The album cover where she also famously wore braids. “It kills. She kills. Now. Afterward. Always.” Noel-Schure captioned the post.
The backlash prompted a somewhat comical response from Erykah Badu, this time in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “To Jay Z . Say something, Jay. You let this woman and these bees do this to me??'' she wrote There has yet to be a response from Jay-Z or Beyoncé. Act II: Cowboy Carter will be released on March 29.