Explained: Why Beyoncé changed the lyrics of her new song, ‘Heated’ just two days after releasing it | Explained News,The Indian Express

The song had used a word seen as an 'ableist slur' by disability activists. Beyoncé’s team clarified that it had not been used in an intentionally hurtful way, and would be changed.

Last week, American singer-songwriter Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter — better known as Beyoncé — dropped her seventh studio album, ‘Renaissance’, one of her most ambitious projects since the success of her last album, Lemonade (2016).

But hours later, she found herself in the middle of a social media backlash for the use of the words “spaz” and “spazzing”.

On Monday (August 1), the artiste decided to take the matter of “ableist slur” seriously, and has now announced that the offensive word will be removed.

In this interesting and impressive record of black music history that spans six decades is the song titled ‘Heated’, Beyoncé’s collaboration with Canadian rapper Drake, and it is here that the words “spaz” and “spazzing” make an appearance amid a bunch of Afro beats with brisk bars and the singer’s fiery vocals.

“Spaz” is used by some people as short for spastic, mainly in the context of medically describing spasms. Spasticity is often present in cerebral palsy and other conditions including multiple sclerosis, where muscle movement cannot be controlled and the afflicted person isn’t aware when the affected areas in her body would wobble and when the stiffness would turn into twitching and pain.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/beyonce-renaissance-heated-song-controversy-8067475/

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