Keri Hilson is clearing up a longtime rumor.
During a recent interview on Out Loud with Claudia Jordan, Keri about the pressures of the industry, taking a hiatus, and rumored beef with Beyonce.
“Early in your career, you feel like you have to listen,” she said. “When you buck, they buck harder and they make threats. Those threats are huge ones. You don’t feel like you have a choice. I really didn’t feel like I had a choice… You learn to fight harder, but I didn’t have enough fight in me at 20, 21.”
Keri shares when her song “Turnin’ Me On” leaked, rumors circulated that she was dissing Beyoncé and Ciara with the line, “You can dance, she can sing but need to move it to the left.” Keri now says that the beef was “strategically staged” to make it seem as if she was referring to Bey.
“Was not my lyrics, was not my writing, was not my doing” said Keri . “Then, I’m caught. Do I tell the truth? Do I expose them early in my career? I’m super young, super new. This [is] my first album. It just soiled my whole dream.”
Check out the full interview below.