Ne-Yo addresses the misogynistic origins of Beyoncé's smash record "Irreplaceable"
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Ne-Yo has an elite pen that has helped some of this generation’s most beloved artists reign at the top of music charts and dominate airwaves for weeks on end. Among those acts is Beyoncé, who snagged arguably one of the biggest hits of 2006 with “Irreplaceable.”
The women’s anthem was featured on her sophomore album, B’Day, and penned by Ne-Yo. In August 2022, the Recording Industry Association of America confirmed the record had reached six million units, certifying it as six times platinum. As most know by now, the singer-songwriter originally wrote the track for himself, but he quickly realized that a man singing about being the irreplaceable one in a relationship may have sent the wrong message to his fans and resulted in unwavering backlash.
In a new interview for “The Gloria Velez Podcast,” he opened up about his decision to pass on recording the song for his own project. “I realized in the lyrics of the record that, well, first and foremost, a good 90% of my fan base was female, and if I were to say to my female fan base, ‘I can have another you in a minute/ Matter fact, she’ll be here in a minute,’ I don’t think that was something they wanted to hear,” he first explained.
The three-time Grammy Award winner said the introspection was a valuable learning moment he has continued to utilize in his craft. “It’s not so much the message as it is the messenger. The messenger’s also very important,” he explained. “See, a man saying that comes across mean, misogynistic. A woman saying that comes across [as] empowering.” He said the public’s perception of the song highlights a double standard. “The way society has things drawn up, it’s almost as if a woman disrespects a man, a man is supposed to just take it on the chin. Whereas a man disrespects a woman, the world is in an uproar.”
Fans who peeped the interview agreed that Ne-Yo made the right call by passing the song on to a female singer. “Ne-Yo is right, whether you want to agree with it or not. The double standard is not right, but it is what it is. Giving women anthems that demean men is a moneymaker. You can play it on the radio and in the clubs, and no one will think twice,” wrote one person. And several others agreed that in the end, his record “Go On Girl” from his 2007 album, Because of You, essentially served as the male-driven version of “Irreplaceable.”
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