Pop Shots – Big Mad

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from a trio of controversies surrounding Beyonce, to Chaka Khan’s revelation about Kanye West, to Nicki Minaj dealing with a catfish, and since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Beyonce removed an interpolation of Kelis’ 2003 hit “Milkshake” from her song “Energy” on both Tidal, and Apple Music, after Kelis called out Beyonce, and The Neptunes for never asking if they could use it. Who would’ve thought Beyonce would end up … “Caught Out There”?

* Staying with problems in Beyonce’s world, after a social media sh*tstorm the singer said she’ll change the word “spaz” in her song “Heated,” claiming when she released the song she was unaware the word was considered an ableist term. This comes six weeks after Lizzo very publicly removed the same word from one of her own songs after facing similar criticism, so either Beyonce has no idea what’s going on in her own industry, or she felt she was so big she could get away with using the word. Neither option is a good look.

* But wait, there’s more! With Beyonce showing she’ll change her lyrics after a song has been released, Monica Lewinsky has requested an alteration that goes way back. On Beyonce’s 2013 self-titled album there was a song titled “Partition” that includes the lyrics, “Oh, me so horny, yeah, he want to f*ck / He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse / He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown.” Lewinsky tweeted that she would like her name taken out of the song. First off, those lyrics make Bloodhound Gang sound like something Shakespeare wrote. Second, what’s Lewinsky going to do next, attempt to get every jukebox in America to remove Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels’ “Devil with a Blue Dress On”?

* Justin Bieber made his triumphant return to the stage at Italy’s Lucca Festival less than two months after revealing he’d been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. While this is fantastic for Bieber, our thoughts and prayers now go out to audiences worldwide.

* BTS will be releasing a new cookbook in November titled BTS RECIPE BOOK: Book of Tasty Stories. As long as they don’t release one titled To Serve Man we should be OK.

* D-Roc of Ying Yang Twins collapsed on stage at the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, MO, when the hip-hop duo were opening for Vanilla Ice. Thankfully, it was just a heat, and dehydration issue, and he’s made a full recovery from the collapse. That said, I’m not sure how long it will take him to recover from having to open for Vanilla Ice.

* K-pop group SEVENTEEN earned their fourth #1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart as their latest release, SEVENTEEN 4th Album Repackage: Sector 17, debuted in the top spot. I mean, how could it not with such a catchy name? Of course, it really doesn’t matter how many #1s the group has, there’s still only one “Seventeen” we recognize around here.

* Kanye West released his debut single, “Through the Wire,” way back in 2003, and apparently Chaka Khan has never been thrilled with the way her voice was sampled. During an interview with Good Day DC she revealed she was “upset about sounding like a chipmunk,” adding, “(Kanye) didn’t mention that he was gonna speed it up, you know, three times its normal speed.” This is the type of origin story of Kanye West’s career that we all expected.

* Staying on the topic of rappers who have a hazy concept of permission, Mystikal was arrested again on charges that include rape and strangulation. This after serving six years in prison for sexual battery and extortion, and having faced a rape charge in 2017 that was ultimately dropped in 2020. Upon hearing the news the NFL wanted to know if he’d be available to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl.

* Nicki Minaj addressed rumors that she owes $173 million in taxes, blaming the gossip on a catfish pretending to be her assistant. This begs the question – if you’re going to pretend to be a celebrity’s assistant, shouldn’t you pretend to be a good assistant that would actually make sure all the taxes get paid? I guess this just goes to show the only Pretenders that belong in music are the band led by Chrissie Hynde.

That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.