During a Wednesday appearance on The Breakfast Club, veteran R&B singer and songwriter Keri Hilson set the record straight about dissing Beyoncé in the remix of her 2009 hit song, Turnin Me On.
Hilson, who came under scrutiny after the song in question was leaked online, explained that though it was something that she regretted, she actually did not pen those lyrics. She also touched on how the diss took a toll on her career.
“It’s a regret,” the 42-year-old stated, per Billboard. “But not in the way people think. That’s a song I actually didn’t write. Those are not my words.”
At the time, Hilson was preparing to release her debut album, In A Perfect World, and she was signed to producers Polow Da Don and Timbaland under Interscope Records. Hilson stated that when she arrived at the studio to record her portion of the song that also featured rapper Lil Wayne, Polow Da Don submitted her with a verse that had already been written for her. The verse in question was written by fellow songwriter Ester Dean.
“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,” Hilson sings as she makes mention of Beyoncé’s hit single, Irreplaceable.
“Automatically, I was like, ‘I’m not saying that,’” she recalled about becoming aware of the diss. “That was my position. I’m an athlete. I am competitive. But I’m not nasty, I’m a finesse player. I don’t look at things like that.”
Despite her disapproval, Hilson alleged that Polow Da Don threatened to put her career in jeopardy, Billboard reported.
“I tried to fight him on it and I began writing my own,” she explained. “But he — I want to be careful with the word I use — it was quite forceful… The mistake that I made was not continuing to fight. But I was in tears, I was crying, I was adamant that I did not want to do that.”
Hilson added: “My album wasn’t out yet, I was told it’s not coming out if you don’t do this. I was super young. I felt I had no choice. I’m still protecting everyone involved. I’ve been eating that for years.”
Turnin Me On remix was largely successful as it climbed up to No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 while her debut album reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
In the wake of the interview, Ester Dean took to Instagram to render an apology. But that was after she initially stated that the song was “a hit!”
“I submitted a lot of verses for that remix. One got picked, and it was co-written with Keri,” wrote Dean. “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.”
But Hilson, in the comments section of The Shade Room, begged to differ about Dean’s co-writing claims. “You used the word co-wrote. I RE-wrote 3 lines in your verse,” Hilson wrote, per Complex. “Which was the ONLY battle I won in the whole matter. But you weren’t there when all this was going down, and we didn’t write it together.”
The Knock You Down singer also shared the lines that she re-wrote: “Been getting dollars boy / Gone get ya money up / No you ain’t the only homie on me, line up.”
She added: “Because not only did I strongly disagree with the unnecessary hateful sentiments towards other women, and I’ve never been a fan of the publicity stunt method.” Hilson in her response also said that Dean “chose to stay quiet for 16 years, but coming out only now, when you felt a portion of the heat I’ve gotten all this time.”
Though Beyoncé never publicly addressed the diss, Hilson in a 2021 interview revealed that she and the legendary singer spoke about the song, and there were no hard feelings.
“I feel like she understood what happened, what had transpired and there was a bit of healing in that moment when we met,” Hilson told host Persia Nicole. “I take her as a very intuitive kind of soul, as am I. She’s amazing. I’ve always felt that way, that’s the truth of the matter, but no one will believe that.”
Hilson’s upcoming album, We Need to Talk, will be released on April 18.
