Keri Hilson has finally revealed the story behind her 2009 single “Turnin’ Me On (Remix),” which was widely perceived as a Beyoncé diss track. The song sparked controversy and derailed Hilson’s once-thriving music career.
Hilson appeared on “The Breakfast Club” Wednesday, April 9, to promote her new Lifetime movie Fame: A Temptations Story and the subject came up.
Now 42, the singer-songwriter confirmed the track was indeed a Beyoncé diss, however, she insisted she was not a fan of the lyrics.
“It’s a regret. But not in the way people think. That’s a song I actually didn’t write. Those are not my words,” she said.
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Hilson blamed producer Polow Da Don for the infamous single, which became a hit.
“He produced the record. Because I was on tour with Lil Wayne, I wasn’t able to lay anything down. He had been on me for a couple of weeks, [saying] we need to do a remix,” she recalled.
She said when she got in the studio to record the remix, she was shocked by the lyrics.
“He had another writer in our camp at the time … he had her write this,” she said. “He played it for me, meanwhile I’m thinking I was coming in to write a remix to ‘Turnin’ Me On.’ Automatically, I was like, ‘I’m not saying that.’ That was my position. I’m an athlete. I am competitive. But I’m not nasty, I’m a finesse player. I don’t look at things like that.”
The verse said: “Your vision cloudy if you think that you’re the best / You can dance, she can sing, but she need to move it to the left, left / She need to go have some babies. She needs to sit down, she fake / I ain’t turning it off, I’m stay turning it on. Go ‘head and tell these folks how long I’ve been writing your songs.”
According to Hilson, she agreed to release the track because she was “young” and the producer put “pressure” on her.
“My album wasn’t out yet. I was told it’s not coming out if you don’t do this,” she stated. “I was super young. I felt I had no choice. I’m still protecting everyone involved. I’ve been eating that for years.”
Hilson said she’s finally put the incident behind her. “I’ve forgiven myself,” she said. “But I’ll never forget what that moment cost me.”
The singer kept things classy and refused to name the woman who wrote the song.
But later in the day, songwriter Ester Dean admitted she penned the track and issued an apology to Hilson on social media, writing about the song: “It was childish and didn’t age well.”
This month Hilson headlines Lifetime’s Fame: A Temptations Story, about a chart-topping R&B sister duo whose bond is tested by jealousy and ambition. For more details on the film, check out our coverage here.
You can watch the full interview with Keri Hilson below:
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