Destiny’s Child is one of the most successful girl groups of all time, but recently fans took issue with one of their biggest hits which they say has a message that hasn’t aged well with modern times.
The critique kicked off on Saturday, June 5th when a Twitter user with the screen name @TheBaddestMitch posted “Me listening to “cater 2 u” along with a meme of reality star Erica Dixon making a skeptical facial expression.
Soon the tweet went viral with over 20, 000 retweets and almost 100,000 likes and evolved into a thread of other users unpacking all the things they believe to be problematic about the lyrics.
For those who need a refresher on what Beyoncé, Kelly and Michelle are saying in the 2004 hit, it starts off with:
Baby I see you working hard
I want to let you know I’m proud
Let you know that I admire what you do
The more if I need to reassure you
My life would be purposeless without you (Yeah)
If I want it (Got it)
When I ask you (You provide it)
“Beyoncé lost me in the first verse when she said “my life would be purposeless without you” Then she followed later with “I’ll brush your hair. Put your durag onnnn” Do you know how particular black men are about their durag tying technique? It’s too much,” explained one user.
To her point, there is a part of the song that does seem to take catering to your partner into the dangerous territory of giving up your free agency, in which the young ladies sing:
When you come home late, tap me on my shoulder, I’ll roll over
Baby I heard you
I’m here to serve you
If it’s love you need, to give it is my joy
All I wanna do, is cater to you boy
And it appears this isn’t the first time the outdated messaging in this song has raised brows, because back in 2018, Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams even took to social media to admit that she herself was struck by the “unrealistic” lyrics when she heard it unexpectedly playing while having a meal with her former fiance Chad Johnson.
“Cater to You comes on and I made this face,” she wrote in her Instagram stories at the time, along with an emoji of someone rolling their eyes.
“Because he’s waiting on the first and second verse to be fulfilled one day,” she continued. “I wrote my verse about empowering and uplifting the man.”
“I wish you would tap me on my shoulder while I’m sleep,” she noted with both the laughing and angry face emojis. “That was Kelly’s promise not mine.”
“I know that I NOW have a man worthy of those first two verses,” she clarified, before admitting, “I was so over the foolishness back then and I was like, ‘I’ll just let you know you’re a good man without all the extra and I’ll always have your back.'”
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