“Put us together, how they gon’ stop both us?” the rapper announces as Beyoncé muses about how happy they’ll be. The duo would join forces again and again on tracks and whole albums (singles “Crazy in Love” and “Drunk in Love,” the “On the Run” tour and the “Everything is Love” record). But really he’s talking to whoever’s listening, because the collaboration functioned like a save-the-date for the next two decades. “You ready, B? Let’s go get ’em,” Jay-Z tells his girl, whom he was rumored to be dating at the time, at the top of the track. It’s a smooth groove over a Tupac sample with Jay-Z’s signature lyricism and Bey’s R&B improvs. Perhaps it’s why we give the diva a pass, or two, and will in the future.On its face, Beyoncé's first non- soundtrack single without her Destiny’s Child bandmates doesn’t seem particularly earth-shattering. The bittersweet side of Beyonce stealing imitable art is that when she does, she does it well. Here’s a side by side of “Single Ladies” and “Mexican Breakfast.” Looks eerily close don’t you think?

She later borrowed from Bob Fosse’s routine, “Mexican Breakfast,” in the video for her girls anthem, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” There are also references to “Rich Man’s Frug” scene (of Bob Fosse’s “Sweet Charity”) in Bey’s “Get Me Bodied” video. But let’s be honest: that wasn’t that serious, at least not at that point in her 20-year plus career. But at what point do you say you were influenced by early work and at what point are you flat out plagiarizing?īeyoncÃ© first caught flak for working up a dance similar to Josephine’s Baker’s iconic banana dance in her “Deja Vu” video, then was seen sporting a skirt with dangling bananas when performing the “B’Day” track. While Beyonce had already established herself as one of the most popular acts in the entertainment industry this sing really solidified her as a force to be reckoned with and as a huge influence in the empowerment of women. Beyonce’s hit “Single Ladies” is probably one of if not her most famous songs of all-time.

Beyonce single ladies