Popular 90s singer Robin S says that Beyoncé sampled her hit song “Show Me Love,” but she never contacted her, nor is she credited for the sample.
Beyoncé revealed her song “Break My Soul” two days ago (June 22), which has caused BeyHive to buzz in anticipation of her upcoming album ‘Renaissance’ set to be released on July 29.
On the first day of release, the song debuted at No. 2 on the US Spotify chart with 1.99 million streams and simultaneously debuted at No. 5 on the global Spotify chart with 5.145 million streams.
According to Chart Data, it is the biggest debut for a solo song by a female artist in 2022. On Friday, just two days after its release, “Break My Soul” debuted at NO. 21 on the UK singles chart from a partial week of sales, marking the singer’s 36th top 40 hits.
Along with the song’s success has been the discussion around the house-style beats it was released on. Artist Robin S on Friday settled that debate as she claimed in a Good Morning Britain interview that her song was sampled without her knowledge.
In the interview, she says that her son brought the news to her attention.
“It doesn’t have to be confirmed. A singer knows her songs,” she began. “My son called me and he’s like, ‘Mom, mom, you’re trending all over the place! Beyoncé put her song out and it’s ‘Show Me Love’ and you’re trending everywhere!” she said
She added, “maybe we can do a collab together you know that’s always a dream.”
While she did not bash the artist, some fans of Beyoncé have been defending the ‘Lemonade’ artist against the impression that she may have stolen art belonging to another artist.
However, Robin S says she doesn’t have any animosity towards the artist as she shared her excitement and gratitude that her song was sampled.
“This message goes out to Queen Bey herself—Beyoncé, to Jay-Z, to the entire team. Thank you so much for giving me my flowers while I’m still alive,” she continued. “I am honoured and I’m excited to see what else could happen,” she said.
In videos sent to Good Morning Britain, Robin S. thanks Beyoncé by her sampling her song 'Show Me Love' on 'BREAK MY SOUL'.
'I'm honoured and excited to see what else can happen.' – she said. ?? pic.twitter.com/uEOyYVyU9K
— BEYONCÉ NETWORK (@BeyNetwork) June 22, 2022
Meanwhile, Robin S’ claim has brought a bizarre turn in the entire claim as, according to some reports online, the track in question may not even belong to her.
Some social media users say that Robin S is not the owner of the original song but that Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Andrea Martin was due to a deliberate move by the label to release the demo version.
Martin sadly passed away in 2021, and that has caused some social media users to call Robin S out for claiming to be the true owner behind the sampled track.
According to an article by Vibe in September 2021, Andrea Martin was the true voice behind Robin S.’s 1993 hit single, “Show Me Love.” She sang on the demo, and the producers of the song released her version instead of Robin’s.
Martin had disclosed that information while on an ASCAP panel where she said that it was her voice singing even though it sounded similar to Robin’s.
“So I woke up one day to $300, this was the cheque, and my sister called me ‘You on the radio’,” she belts out one of the high notes on the song. Martin said that was her greatest learning lesson as there was no witness, and she also didn’t have a signature sound on the demo to distinguish her, which she now has and encouraged ASCAP artists to use.
It’s unclear how the matter has transpired from the label side, but Robin S had gone on to perform the song, and it is somehow regarded as one of her biggest hits and associated with her.
Since the disclosure by Andrea Martin in 2021, Robin S has never addressed the claim. Martin’s estate has also not made any legal claim on the song.
