Erykah Badu may have just roused some very angry members of the Beyhive after the neo-soul artist seemingly accused Beyoncé of copying her style.
The public call-out happened on Sunday, July 30, via Instagram after Badu reacted to one of the recent outfits Yoncé wore on her current Renaissance World Tour.
Badu first reshared a photo of the “Run the World” singer wearing an oversized T-shirt, camouflage knee-high boots, and an oversized silver hat with a huge brim that covered half of her face. “Hmm,” the 52-year-old wrote over the photo.
Badu then shared an image of herself wearing a large silver hat somewhat similar to what the fellow Texas native was wearing. The “On & On” singer’s look was captured from a stop on her Unfollow Me Tour with rapper Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def, which wrapped on July 23.
“I guess I’m everybody stylist,” she penned under that shot of herself before adding “I’m flattered” on the final slide.
It wasn’t long before fans began to pick a side after Hollywood Unlocked shared her reaction on Instagram, where several social media users shares their opinion underneath the post.
Loyal supporters of Beyoncé rallied behind the multi-faceted artist, claiming that Badu was reaching for an issue. Some comments include the following:
“She been wearing those hats for yearssss during formation. This time it’s just metallic to match the Renaissance theme. We love you auntie but STOP.”
“Y’all both from the same damn place. I can’t believe she said this. Lol This is definitely Erykah’s style w/ a hint of glam but it was never that serious.”
“Beyoncé has been wearing different versions of this hate for her entire tour. It’s the same hat from Formation. Erykah Badu is giving herself too much credit.”
“People can’t even wear hats without thinking people copying.”
Nevertheless, there were also a few commenters who understood where Badu was coming from, thus seeing no problem in her calling out the “Dreamgirls” actress.
“To be honest when it comes to Hats #ErykahBadu is the queen of #Hats.”
“Very much inspired by Erykah or whomever styles her. Beyoncé is ‘inspired’ by many people. No hate at all. But all of these things just don’t pop randomly into her head and the heads of her stylists from absolutely nowhere.”
“Y’all better not come for Ms Badu either cause she ain’t lying. Clearly it’s homage to her.”
One way Beyoncé previously paid homage to Badu was by mentioning her name, along with those other iconic female artists, in a remixed version of her 2022 song, “BREAK MY SOUL (THE QUEENS REMIX)” which features Madonna.
Three minutes into the tune, the Grammy award winner can be heard rapping, “Solange Knowles, Badu, Lizzo, Kelly Rowl’.”
She also mentioned the late singer Aaliyah, the Godmother of Rock ’n’ Roll Rosetta Tharpe, Nina Simone, Nicki Minaj, and many more Black women who were and still are musical icons.
Beyoncé has not yet publicly addressed Badu’s message.
