Singer Keri Hilson has claimed that she was pushed into releasing her infamous 2009 “diss track” against Beyoncé.
The Georgia-born musician, who began her career as a backing vocalist in the early Noughties before signing a record deal as a solo artist, said she now regrets the remix of “Turnin’ Me On” – but “not in the way people would think”.
“That’s a song I actually didn’t write,” she told The Breakfast Club podcast. “Those are not my words.”
The lyrics in question were widely interpreted to take a swipe at Beyoncé, who had just released her third studio album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, and was riding high as one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.
Hilson, meanwhile, was building up to the release of her debut album, In a Perfect World, while she was signed to Interscope Records under the producers Timbaland and Polow da Don.
She told the podcast hosts that Polow was determined for her to record a remix, leading to her having to take days off from touring with Lil Wayne to return to the studio and write a new verse.
However, she was stunned to find that Polow had apparently already prepared lyrics from another writer: “I cam into the studio and he plays me this verse,” she recalled. “Automatically, I was like, ‘I’m not saying that.’ That was my position.”
The verse in question featured the lyrics: “Your vision cloudy if you think that you’re the best/ You can dance, she can sing, but she need to move it to the left, left/ She need to go have some babies/ She needs to sit down, she fake/ I ain’t turning it off, I’m stay turning it on/ Go ‘head and tell these folks how long I’ve been writing your songs.”
Hilson claimed that, at the time, she realised the lyrics were “shady”, but didn’t know who the songwriter was calling out, yet was still opposed to them.
She alleged that she initially rejected the verse but was pushed into recording the remix regardless.
Hilson said she was eventually told that if she recorded the verse she was given, she could also write her own, and a final decision would be made when those involved compared the two versions.
While she did this, the original version of the remix was apparently leaked days later. As the song received a backlash from fans who deduced she was taking shots at artists such as Beyoncé or Ciara, Hilson said she protected the others involved in the song.
“I protected [Polow]. I protected the girl that wrote it, who went on to become famous,” she said. “I protected everyone in the story so I have to eat that and I’m still eating it to this day. It’s like I’ve worn the scarlet letter.”
“When you go against your intuition, you always pay for it,” she later said. “You have to fight for what you feel.”
Hilson said she ran into Beyoncé at the BET Awards not long after the track was released, and that the “Deja Vu” star came over and introduced herself, but they have never spoken about the song.
“I would love to do that,” she said. “To clear it up for sure, and give her the respect I always felt she deserved, from me. But also because I’m curious, ‘What were you told about it?’”
Shortly after Hilson’s appearance on the show, singer-songwriter and producer Esther Dean, who has written hit songs for musicians including Rihanna, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Beyoncé herself, posted an apology.
“I submitted a lot of verses for that remix. One got picked, and it was co-written with Keri,” she wrote on Instagram. “Looking back, it was childish and didn’t age well. I see how it hurt people, especially women, and I take full accountability. I’m sorry for my part in it. Growth is real, and so is this apology.”
The Independent has contacted Polow, Interscope and Timbaland’s representative for comment.
