BEAM Picks Up First Gold Certification In Canada With Beyoncé’s ‘ENERGY’
ENERGY, the 2022 song by Beyoncé featuring Jamaican artist and producer BEAM, was certified Gold in Canada on Monday, August 21.
Music Canada made the announcement yesterday after the single notched more than 40,000 units in sales in the country.
The song, produced by Beyoncé, BEAM, Skrillex, AI Cres and NOVA WAV, is one of only two features on Beyonce’s Grammy-winning Dance-centric album, Renaissance. It debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 46 on the Canadian Hot 100, following its release in July 2022.
BEAM, who migrated to the US as a youngster, also provided Beyoncé with additional vocals on the Renaissance songs CUFF IT and HEATED, which debuted at No. 13 and No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, but he was not credited as a featured artist on those tracks.
ENERGY’s popularity may be buoyed by the now viral Mute Challenge, which has since picked up momentum on Beyoncé’s ongoing Renaissance World Tour – expected to wrap on October 1 later this year.
The challenge draws attention to the closing lyrics of the song’s first verse: “Big wave in the room, the crowd gon’ move/ Look around, everybody on mute…”. Following ‘everybody on mute’, fans mimic the extended pause of silence to be found on the official recording of the track, before transitioning to the song’s catchy chorus.
The song was the subject of controversy between Beyoncé’s team and Kelis, whose hit single, Milkshake, was interpolated into the track. Kelis, who claimed that she was not contacted about the use of her song and that her name was omitted from the songwriting credits for Energy, was less than pleased with the ordeal, indicating to social media that: “Nothing is ever as it seems. Some of the people in this business have no soul, no integrity. They have everyone fooled.”
Beyoncé subsequently removed the interpolation of Kelis’ Gold-selling single.
In the meantime, BEAM, who is the son of Dancehall Gospel star, Papa San, continues to rack up international accolades.
Earlier this year, BEAM was among the Jamaican artists featured on the soundtrack of Marvel’s much-acclaimed animated film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He joined Toian, Don Toliver and Wizkid on the song, Link Up.
In 2021, he was nominated twice for the Grammy Award for Album Of The Year, following his contributions to Kanye West’s DONDA—where he co-wrote Pure Souls and OK Ok pt 2; and Justin Bieber’s Justice—where he was featured on the song Love You Different. He also co-wrote Bieber’s There She Go featuring Lil Uzi Vert.