The Isley Brothers Reveal New Beyoncé Duet Was “Years In The Making”

Mya Abraham
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On Tuesday (August 9), it was announced via iHeartRadio that Beyoncé will join The Isley Brothers on a new single, indicating a slow but sure return to her R&B roots. The song, “Make Me Say It Again, Girl,” is coming this Friday, August 12. The group has revamped one of their most sultry ballads ahead of the September release of their new album, Make Me.

Kandy Isley, the group’s manager and wife to Ronald, revealed to Billboard that it was actually Tina Knowles-Lawson who was “very influential” in getting the duet to fruition.

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“She has a love for The Isley Brothers and her daughter [Beyoncé] grew up listening to this type of music,” Kandy shared. “All we can say is that God’s hands was on this whole project. And the fact that they are giving us permission to put it out at this time is just overly special. Between Beyoncé’s undeniable talent and [producer/engineer] Tony Maserati’s superb job at blending her and Ronald’s voices — he made it sound like she was right there with Ronald in the same room.”

The Isley Brothers chose to recreate “Make Me Say It Again, Girl” after one live performance was particularly swoon-worthy. “I think every woman in there probably turned into [melted] chocolate,” teased Ernie Isley.

As the record began to make its rounds internally among their respective teams, reactions were admittedly emotional. Ronald explained, “I remember when I couldn’t wait for people to hear ‘That Lady’ when we were mixing it. That’s how excited we all were. You just want all of your fans to hear it too. Beyoncé’s mother texted us to say how much they were crying over the record when Beyoncé played it for them. Me, Kandy and her sister were together when we first heard it and they were crying. Then Ernie and his wife came over and there was crying again. We hadn’t done any crying over a record in years.”

The brothers confirmed that there was no way to release the single at the same time as RENAISSANCE. “That’s how important this work is,” Ronald added. “For me, this new album is almost like the beginning. I’m so happy about it. But I also want people to hear it and decide.”

More features from the Make Me album will be announced. Listen to a snippet of the new “Make Me Say It Again, Girl” below.

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