Erykah Badu On Whether She Really Thinks Beyoncé Copies Her Style: ‘It Doesn’t Matter, I’m So Proud Of Her’

May 22, 2024 by C.J. in Music with 0 Comments

Erykah Badu, Beyoncé

Erykah Badu On Whether She Really Thinks Beyoncé Copies Her Style: ‘It Doesn’t Matter, I’m So Proud Of Her’

Update (May 22, 2024): Erykah Badu is clearing the air after she seemingly criticized the cover art for Beyoncé’s latest album, Cowboy Carter.

After Beyoncé dropped the cover, Erykah Badu posted it on her Instagram Story, writing,

“Hmmm.”

She later wrote,

“I guess I’m everybody stylist.”

She then asked Jay-Z to intervene after she Beyoncé’s Beyhive fanbase trolled her. She wrote on X (formerly Twitter),

“To Jay Z . Say somethin Jay . You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me ?? ?”

To Jay Z . Say somethin Jay . You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me ?? ? pic.twitter.com/oxNhNgvfWp

— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) March 20, 2024

During an interview with U.K. newspaper The Standard on Wednesday (May 22), Erykah Badu reflected on the backlash and speculation that she thinks Beyoncé copies her style.

“I said “Hmmm” in a post and people assumed that means a certain thing because they think that. I didn’t say that. I didn’t say I thought that. Only thing I said was, “Jay Z, get these people off me.” I didn’t explain my post or anything, I didn’t have an opportunity to. I was guilty before it started.”

As for whether she really thinks Beyoncé copies her, Badu said,

“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter, I’m so proud of her. I’m a Texas woman, she’s a Texas woman. It’s beautiful. [Beyoncé] works super hard. [The] Knowles family is friends of mine, I love them very much. Most of the things we see are just kind of made up. The press runs with it and now it becomes the narrative. I never correct it, I don’t have to, it’s none of my business. It does help me sell things though. It goes straight to my store and starts selling product when I’m trending. That’s what I use social media for, to sell my things.”

Original Story (March 21, 2024): Beyoncé’s publicist is in formation and coming to the superstar’s defense.

Things began unfolding on social media Wednesday night (March 20), shortly after Beyoncé, 42, shared a new album cover for her forthcoming project Country Carter. In the pic, Beyoncé is notably nude, covering up with a pageant sash that reads “act ii BEYINCE,” a nod to the correct spelling of her mother Tina Knowles’ maiden name. (Tina Knowles previously shared that the last name “Beyoncé” was put on her birth certificate, instead of her actual last name Beyincé. It was never corrected.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Beyonce? (@beyonce)

She is also holding a lit cigarette billowing with smoke, but the part that Erykah Badu, 53, seemed to take issue with was Beyoncé’s hairstyle. The “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer sports long braids and bangs with beads on the end, a look that Erykah Badu has also been known to rock.

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A post shared by UNICORN Mutant Cobra jumpin time lines (@erykahbadu)

Erykah Badu posted the image in her Instagram Story and simply wrote,

“Hmmm”

It didn’t take long for Beyoncé’s fans to come for Erykah Badu, causing the “Window Seat” songstress to ask Jay-Z to intervene. She wrote via X,

“To Jay Z . Say somethin Jay . You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me ?? ?”

To Jay Z . Say somethin Jay . You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me ?? ? pic.twitter.com/oxNhNgvfWp

— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) March 20, 2024

While Jay-Z has yet to publicly speak out, Beyoncé’s longtime publicist Yvette Noel-Schure is sending a message of her own. She shared a video montage of Beyoncé rocking the braided bangs style, and just braids in general, multiple times over the last couple of decades.

Yvette Noel Schure sent a message to Beyoncé’s critics in the caption, writing,