Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” Contains The Same Ableist Slur That Lizzo Recently Had To Remove From Her Single, And Her Team Says It Will Be Changed
Beyoncé finally released her seventh studio album, Renaissance, on Friday. While reviews and sales have been strong (it’s expected to sell at least 275,000 copies in its first week, meaning it will debut at #1), and the Beyhive declared it the best thing since Jesus Christ himself invented sliced bread, the album drop wasn’t seamless. First, it leaked two days early. Then, Kelis got pissed that Beyoncé used a sample of “Milkshake” without her permission. Now, HuffPo reports that Bey’s getting shit for including the ableist slur “sp*z” in the song “Heated”, which was co-written by Drake. In it, Beyoncé sings: “Sp*zzin’ on that ass, sp*z on that ass. Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass.” You may be reading this and thinking: “Damn, didn’t this just happen? Or have I officially lost my mind? Sigh. I guess it’s time to finally book that lobotomy.” No! STOP! It did just happen. With Lizzo and her single, “Grrrls”!
Here’s the song. The “sp*z” part is around 3:38:
As a refresher, “sp*z” comes from “spastic,” a word used to describe spastic paralysis, typical of cerebral palsy. Spasms are very real and can be super painful and disruptive to sufferers’ daily lives. People typically use “sp*z” as slang for “going crazy” or “being clumsy.” Here’s activist Imani Barbarin, who has spastic diplegia (a form of cerebral palsy), explaining why using the term is ableist:
Ok, so here’s what I have to say about Sp*z as a word: if you’re going to call yourself one, really go all in… pic.twitter.com/9VpwjK2lkT
— Imani Barbarin, MAGC | Crutches&Spice ♿️ (@Imani_Barbarin) June 13, 2022
In “Grrrls”, Lizzo originally sang, ” “Do you see this shit? I’ma sp*z.” After she got shit for it on social media, she issued an apology and claimed she was unaware it was offensive. Then she changed the lyrics to, “Hold me back!” Writer/disability advocate Hannah Diviney was one of the people to initially call out Lizzo on social media. She was happy when the lyrics were changed, and called Lizzo “a real true ally.” But, just six weeks later, it’s deja vu all over again, cuz now Hannah has to call out Beyoncé:
So @Beyonce used the word 'spaz' in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo. Guess I'll just keep telling the whole industry to 'do better' until ableist slurs disappear from music 💔
— Hannah Diviney (@hannah_diviney) July 30, 2022
Bethany Bale, policy and campaigns officer at Disability Rights UK, told HuffPost UK:
“Ableist slurs are unacceptable in any context, especially in 2022 when many artists have already publicly learnt from past mistakes and educated others on the power of derogatory language in the process.
“It’s disappointing to see Beyoncé using an ableist slur so soon after Lizzo’s new single ‘Grrrls’ highlighted the hurt this language causes the Disabled community and others.
“We hope that, like Lizzo, Beyoncé will educate herself on the meaning and history behind this language and decide to edit her lyrics.”
Beyoncé’s reps issued a statement to Insider, writing: “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.” So that’s that. But it is odd that nobody on her team spoke up after all the Lizzo controversy. I mean, this is the lady who ran #MeToo background checks on everyone who worked on the album, you think she’d have her ear to the ground. I mean, if this controversy proves anything, it’s that Beyoncé isn’t keeping up with Lizzo or her music. OMG, are these two secret rivals? Get ready for Lizzbians Vs. Beyhive, 2022!
Pic: Beyonce/Mason Poole