The-Dream Sets Diane Warren Straight After Shading Beyoncé‘s Album

After some snarky comments about the number of writers on Beyoncé’s album, The-Dream had some time to educate folks this week.

Source: Leon Bennett / Getty

On Monday, August 1, songwriter Diane Warren took to Twitter to question the number of songwriters credited on some of the tracks on Beyoncé’s new album, Renaissance. While she didn’t say a name, specifically, everyone knew who she was talking about, escalating the situation fairly quickly.

“How can there be 24 writers on a song?” She began, going on to clarify in another tweet, “This isn’t meant as shade, I’m just curious.”

Ms. Warren, you should know better–whether or not you *meant* it as shade, The Beyhive will take care of you. And this time around, that includes a high-profile member of the hive, The-Dream, who contributed to the majority of Renaissance, including “I’m That Girl,” “Cozy,” “Break My Soul,” and “Alien Superstar.”

The producer replied to Warren’s tweets by educating her, writing, “You mean how’s does our (Black) culture have so many writers, well it started because we couldn’t afford certain things starting out, so we started sampling and it became an Artform, a major part of the Black Culture (hip hop) in America. Had that era not happen who knows. U good?”

He continued, referencing the fact that sampling has a lot to do with the high number of writers on one song.

“Btw I know it’s not a one on one writing contest you looking for from no one over here,” he began. “You don’t want that smoke And you know I love you, but come on. Stop acting like your records haven’t been sampled.”

In response, Warren thanked The-Dream for educating her, but she still had her victim moment, telling the musician there’s “no need to be mean about it.”

“I didn’t mean that as an attack or as disrespect,” Diane wrote. “I didn’t know this, thank U for making me aware of it. No need to be mean about it.”

She followed up with an apology, writing, Ok, I meant no disrespect to @Beyonce, who I’ve worked with and admire. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”

This back-and-forth marks the second time Beyoncé’s album made headlines this week, with the singer getting the same treatment as Lizzo did just a few months ago.

On the album’s 11th track, “Heated,” Bey uses the word “spaz,” a term that disability activists have called an ableist slur. While many people on Twitter continue to insist that the word is part of AAVE and isn’t derogatory, the word’s roots are still the same, regardless of how the word is being used.

In response, Beyoncé’s publicist told NPR that the lyric will be changed.