Long ago, it was said that there’s a joke every day on Twitter and the goal is not to be it. Well, there weren’t too many jokes on Twitter today, but there was one person who managed to anger quite a few people on the bird app. Unfortunately, it was Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren.
For those unaware of Diane Warren by name, it’s safe to say that the general public is familiar with her work. Over the years, she’s managed to write nine number one hits and 32 top 10 hits. Along the way, she’s assisted everyone from Michael Bolton to Ty Dolla $ign. Warren is no stranger to the songwriting process or the recording industry, so she decided to comment on it with a simple tweet.
“How can there be 24 writers on a song?” she asked.
Several of her followers felt the tweet was a jab at “Alien Superstar” from Beyoncé’s new album, Renaissance. The track credits a number of talented contributors, including Leven Kali, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Labrinth. While fans speculated about whether or not the tweet took a jab at Beyoncé, one man spoke up. Terius “The-Dream” Nash, who was credited as a writer on Renaissance, fired back at Warren with a detailed explanation as to how a track could have 24 writers.
“[Do] you mean, ‘how 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. [It became] a major part of the Black Culture [Hip-Hop] in America. Had that era not [happened], who knows? [Are you] good?” he replied.
Eventually, The-Dream’s reply sparked a response from Warren.
“I didn’t mean that as an attack or as disrespect. I didn’t know this. Thank [you] for making me aware of it. No need to be mean about it,” she answered.
Warren’s response to The-Dream’s explanation did not sit right with several bystanders. Many people alleged that Warren was portraying herself as a victim when in fact she knew how her initial tweet would be perceived.
The Dream simply explained the process (that you didn’t need explanation on) in a nice way. Y’all are good for being nice nasty and then going into victim hood when you get the attention you were looking for. https://t.co/wCEbpu7YkE
— ??L E A?? (@_MissLeandra) August 1, 2022
The-Dream just lit Diane Warren up. I’m smiling. https://t.co/KCR3gvq4dt
— Ronald Isley (@yoyotrav) August 1, 2022
The Dream said let's discuss BLACK MUSIC HISTORY. https://t.co/pJuDAbBlcn
— Sisa (@TheTitanBaddie) August 1, 2022
I know it’s in your culture to just take things and pretend that you created them, but when you actually credit all contributors you may end up with 24 writers on a song https://t.co/bGqgZSC9R5
— Angel (@MyHandsRatedE) August 1, 2022
