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Beyonce shares the trauma of being disrespected in “Haunted”

Chris Well

“I know if I’m haunting you, you must be haunting me…”

Cultural icon Beyoncé brought us the memorable track “Haunted” with the lead-in rap “Ghost.” A questioningly romantic ode (especially if you watch the dramatic music video), the song was actually inspired by frustrating problems with being taken advantage of by the music business.

Found on her 2013 album Beyoncé, “Haunted” was co-written by Beyoncé and Boots, inspired by an exasperating problem he had with a record label. When Boots—a record producer, singer, rapper, director, animator and songwriter (whose actual name is Jordan Asher Cruz)—presented his original demo for the song, he was shocked how much Beyoncé was drawn to it.

“I didn’t get it at all at first,” he told Idolator. “I was like, ‘What is she hearing in this?’ because it was just me sounding sad…singing by myself. There was something about what I had to say that resonated with her.”

The reason Beyoncé could relate to “Haunted” was because she had suffered similar problems with the music business. As she shared with ABC News, “The song is really about temptation in this music industry and being exposed to this crazy madness.”

Beyoncé - Haunted (Official Video)

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