An unexpected studio stint. American superstar Beyoncé will have to re-record a song from her new album, Renaissance. The announcement follows heavy criticism on social media after a slang word was used as an insult by people with disabilities. In this case, this term is in the title Heatedwritten in collaboration with Canadian rapper Drake, in which the singer sings: Spazzin’ on that ass, spazzin’ on that ass.
>> Beyoncé: we listened to her new album “Renaissance”
Derived from the adjective “spastic” (“spastic”), the term “spa”, in English, may be used to make fun of people with cerebral palsy and may be loosely associated with the terms “dumbass”, “disturbs” or “bumbling”. In the United States, the word “spas” is infrequent and seems rather to qualify a person judged “out of control” or who acts in a manner “erratic”.
In an attempt to put out the start of a fire on social networks, Beyoncé will therefore re-record the offending song in “substitute” the term “spas”, wrote to AFP a spokesperson for the artist. The latter ensures that “the word had not been used intentionally to hurt”. The same story had happened in June to the American singer Lizzo, who had to re-record her title Grrrls to delete the same slang term “spas”.
Australian activist Hannah Diviney, speaking on Twitter, said Beyoncé’s use of the term “the effect of a slap, for the disability community and for the progress made with Lizzo”. She promised to “keep telling the whole music industry to ‘do better’ until the ‘able-bodied’ slurs [discriminantes envers les personnes en situation de handicap] disappear from the music”.
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
six years later Lemonade, which has become a classic, Renaissance was released last Friday. This seventh solo album by the singer is considered the musical event of the summer.