The end of July brought forth legendary singer-songwriter Beyoncé’s highly anticipated seventh album Renaissance. However, one song in particular on her new release has received pushback for using a derogatory term. Yoncé faced backlash for a lyric that was deemed “ableist.”
On the album’s 11th track, ”Heated,” the term ”Spazzin” was used towards the end of the song when the entertainer said ”Spazzin’ on that ass, sp** on that ass.” In the context of the song, the line was used to express how crazy that she was about to start behaving.
While the term is of common use in America in the same context, in other communities it is used in a derogatory manner towards people who are disabled.
After the album was released many took to social media to express their excitement and positive feedback but there were a number of people who also voiced their concern and discontentment with her use of the word.
According to Snopes, a representative for Beyonce did confirm to the AP Press that the word, which was deemed ableist, will be removed from the song. ”The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.
The entertainer is not the first artist who has been called out for using the word in recent months. Fellow singer Lizzo was met with criticism for using it her song “GRRRLS.”
Despite the backlash, Renaissance has had a great debut weekend with it being expected for the album to sell up to 315,000 units in its first week.
