Sampling vs. Interpolation: Beyoncé’s Renaissance

A recent dispute about an interpolation in Beyoncé’s latest album, Renaissance, raises important questions about artists’ rights and highlights the distinction between sampling and interpolation for copyright purposes.

Beyoncé’s latest album Renaissance has been praised as a rich celebration of club music and lauded as a “tribute to Black dance music and to queer cultural touchstones, with inspirations drawn from early 90s Chicago house music,” “the drag-ball culture of New York City,” and New Orleans bounce music. Ten of the sixteen tracks on the album feature a variety of samples from these genres and others, including Donna Summer, Big Freedia, and the Clark Sisters.

In Renaissance, the song “Energy” originally included an interpolation of the 2003 song “Milkshake” by the singer Kelis. Near the end of “Energy,” Beyoncé even sings a variation of the “la-la, la-la, la” that Kelis popularized in “Milkshake.” However, Kelis took to Instagram in response, claiming that “Milkshake” was used in the album without her knowledge.

Kelis specifically called out Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who were credited on Renaissance and who also produced “Milkshake.”  Kelis claimed that the unsolicited use of her work constituted “thievery,” and that she expects “reparations” since Williams and Hugo did not actually write or perform “Milkshake.” This is not the first time Kelis has addressed Williams and Hugo for exploiting her music. In a 2020 interview, Kelis claimed that as a nineteen-year-old emerging artist, she was “tricked” into signing a contract with Williams and Hugo that prevented her from profiting off the success her first two albums.

Sampling typically refers to the “copying of a portion of a master sound recording and using it, with or without alteration, in the making of a new musical work.” The use of a sample from a master recording implicates two distinct copyrights: the copyright to the musical composition and the copyright to the sound recording itself. Generally, artists must obtain clearance to use a sample from both the composition copyright holder and the sound recording copyright holder. 

This dispute raises important issues about artists’ rights to their own music. If Beyoncé had sampled “Milkshake” directly, and if Kelis owned the copyright to the sound recordings of the song, Kelis could have prevented its use on Renaissance. However, Beyoncé interpolated the track, meaning she re-recorded elements of the underlying composition of “Milkshake,” which creates the effect of sampling the song without using the master recording.

The use of an interpolation is more economical than sampling an original master recording because it only requires the permission of the composition copyright holder – not the sound recording copyright holder. Since Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are credited as the writers and producers of “Milkshake” (although Kelis denies that they had a role in the actual writing of the song), they hold the composition copyright for the song. Therefore, the interpolation of “Milkshake” on “Energy” only required the approval of Williams and Hugo.

To avoid the use of their work without permission, artists must secure the copyrights to the composition and to the sound recording of their music. Because Kelis did not ensure that she had the full rights to her music at the time of its creation, Beyoncé and her team had no legal obligation to inform Kelis that “Milkshake” would be used in Renaissance. Even though the use of “Milkshake” without Kelis’ approval was technically legal, a post-release change to “Energy” removed the interpolation, likely in an attempt to avoid further controversy.

Kelis noted that her situation “happens to a lot of artists” all the time. “I think that really something needs to change,” Kelis posted. “And this just might be the fuel that I needed to actually do it, because honestly, I try to keep to myself and stay out of the drama. But if it keeps coming to me, what else am I gonna do?”