Rap-Up.com || Who Originally Had Beyoncé’s ‘Ego’?

Beyoncé turned “Ego” into a chart-topping hit, but can you guess which singer was originally offered the song?

The Elvis “BlacElvis” Williams and Harold Lilly production was first given to Chrisette Michele for her sophomore album Epiphany, she exclusively tells Rap-Up.com.

The R&B songstress decided to pass on the self-esteem-boosting track, which eventually became a single off Beyoncé’s platinum album I Am… Sasha Fierce.

The “What You Do” singer-songwriter’s own ego was part of the reason she turned down the future hit. “It was really scary for me to release my pen because I had written my first album myself,” she reveals. “You don’t know if they’re going to be able to capture your voice the same way that you captured it yourself.”

So what did Chrisette think of Beyoncé’s version when she heard it? “Incredible. So hot.”

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44 Comments

Run this down
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Another prove that beyonce is lying about songwriting. Bey credits herself on I Am..Sasha Flop for writing EGO??how funny is that?

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Lana B. Eezy
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
This ain’t proof of shit…Beyonce never said she wrote every song she sings…most of them she does….can you say CO-WROTE…duh…stop hating!!

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Jaelani
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Good for Beyonce! Chrisette’s voice is good but it really isn’t that strong to carry “Ego”.

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thedevil
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
if you on a level like Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Carey sales wise, they automatically demand co-writer/producers credits. it’s hella fake and wrong, but u gotta play the game as producer and songwriter…we all know she doesn’t write shit. and if she does, she just changes a line so she feels better for stealing credits…

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malcolm
July 22nd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
5 OR 10 YRS DOWN THE ROAD EVERYONE EXCEPT THE SINGER GET ROYALTY WHEN THEY’RE THE ONE WHO MAKES THE SONG POPULAR IN THE FIRST PLACE. THIS IS A WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SINGER GET FUTURE ROYALTY. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS LOBBYING CONGRESS SO THE LAW WILL CHANGE TO LET SINGER GET ROYALTY EVEN IF THEY DONT WRITE THE SONG. LOOK HOW MANY SONGS WHITNEY MADE FAMOUS AND SHE NOT GETTING ANY ROYALTY CHEQUE BECAUSE SHE DID NOT GET WRITING CREDITS. MATTHEW IS A SMART MANAGER. PROTECT HIS DAUGHTER FUTURE PUBLISHING.SONG WRITER WILL GIVE UP CREDITS TO A LIST SINGERS BECAUSE IN THE LONG RUN THEY MAKE MORE MONEY. DONT HATE THE PLAYER HATE THE GAME. LOTS OF BLACK ARTIST FROM BACK IN THE DAY GO BROKE BECAUSE THEY NEVER WRITE THEIR SONGS SO NO ROYALTY CHEQUE. MORE ARTIST NEED MANAGER LIKE MATTHEW.

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fake
July 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 pm
beyonce is not on mariah sales wise. what are you talking about? destiny child did good but beyonce sales less than alicia keys.

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rockon
July 22nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Who cares! The song and video are both trash! Beyawnsay needs to step her game up lyrically this isn’t an ICONIC song, or something sung by a developing icon. Beyawnsay lies about everything!

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MACH
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I could really hear that song fitting in with Chrisette’s last album. I’m really not a Chrisette fan per se, but LOL @ someone saying she couldn’t vocally pull it off like beyonce… y’all really need to wake up people.

Sorry, but boreYAWNce has been lying about songwriting since folks can remember. Everybody in the industry knows it, but when you have the right status and people, you get away with things..

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BeyonceLover
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Is it me, or are u bitchez reading correctly. She GAVE the song up. He gave it to Beyonce, just like she always do, rearrange some words, change some lyrics. She is legally the co-writer….SMH Step yall game up haters

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Zeld
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
What is wrong with Chrisett Michele at first she was talking trashy about Chris Brown now she on Beyonce. If I could remember Beyonce never said she was the one who wrote ‘’Ego’’ because according to Beyonce the song was written by Elvis Williams and Harold Lilly and it was Published by Elvis Lee Music.

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Theodore
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Beyonce wrote the ‘i can back it up’ part nd came up wit da melody at the end.

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Jay
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Man, Chrisette should think before just passing on a song cause she thinks it’s to different for her. Sometimes you just gotta take a chance.

and didn’t she say she passed on “Irreplaceable” as well?!

One thing I can say about Beyonce is that she’s not afraid to take risk

Also I agree with some of you. You can have writing credits for a song even if you wrote one line or even just the melody. Why, because it’s still apart of the creation of the song. That’s why if you look in the credits in some CD books you’ll see a ton of names. Sometimes you see just one or two names, like with Brian Mcknight and Mariah Carey. If yaw go back and look at most of Mariah’s older CD you will usually see just her name and another. One being the producer or co-writer. A lot of MC’s songs she wrote on her own. The same goes with Brian Mcknight. Difference with him is that he produces, writes, arranges and sings mostly everything.

but any way, yeah Beyonce can get credit even if she just wrote apart of the song. So stop hatin on the girl. She knows the business a lot more than we would.

and if you’re not to lazy you could look up the rules on copyright and songwriting credits on the net. :)

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SOON TO BE A LEGEND
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I agree with you JAy 100 %

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Burmy
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:39 pm
@Jay

I could NOT see Chrissy singing about some dude’s pipe…she’s more clean-cut than that.

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Dominicano
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:30 am
I knew beyonce didn’t write that song and she didn’t change shit, she need to stop lying.

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Mpya
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:16 am
You can cough during recording a song someone wrote and then share copyright!
Everybody knows that singers like beyonce don’t right songs they get approached but singer songwriters with complete songs and then she farts in the recording booth during the recording process then she can claim a piece of the songwriters royalties and others! so simple!
Just based on a simple fart! believe!

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pinkpop
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:52 am
Alicia does not sell more than Beyonce, that’s for sure.

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Jamie
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:53 am
thank you Jay…People need to realize that no matter how minimal the change is, whether its one word or one phase, its still not the same as the original song, therefore legally, an artist is obligated to take co-writting credits.

I mean, just imagine someone covering Dolly Parton’s/Whitney’s classic “I will always love you” but changing the words to “I will always hate you” or something crazy like that. If you don’t accept writting credits, then you’re telling the public that the author of the original WROTE the covered song (word for word). And that just isn’t true. It might even cause for legal action against that person, I’m not sure but I can imagine it could if the cover song was offensive enough.

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Jamie
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:00 am
*writing

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Pinoy
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:37 am
Be just need to look good like in the picture, cause let’s face it, that’s what make Be a hot name

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Twitter.com/R3trooutcast
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:41 am
Wheather she wrote it or not is not that the damn post was about stfu!

She passed on the song and beyonce dident end of story

You guys act like every artist writes there own music!

Rihanna all her top 1 songs are either writen from ne-yo,dream or chris brown(disturbida)
Mariah carey aint right obsessed we all noe that much
Ciara don’t write all her ish
Even keri hilson who’s a song writer don’t write everything

Its apart of the music industry and ill be damn if im singing this song and maken it a top 10 smash if I aint gettin royalties so if I gotta be cowriter then so be it most these songs won’t be popular without the artist so why not let them have co writer credits even if they dident write them? Without them u give this song to christte is wouldent be mainstream its all about the artist …

Leave beyonce alone dam!

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Humberto
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:35 am
What’s funny is that people look at Beyonce’s career like all her songs are only the singles ¬¬
She dont write all her songs, but for sure she wrote Hip Hop Star, Speechless, Gift From Virgo, Daddy, 8 Days of Christmas, Love…

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Matt
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 am
Can I just say that Beyonce’s boobs look amazing in that photo?

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stephon
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
FIRST OFF I WISH PEOPLE WILL STOP HATIG I’M HER NUMBER 1 FAN BUT I’M NT BIAS AT ALL. SHE DOES WRITE MOST OF HER MUSIC AND SHE CO WRITES ALL IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT HELL NAW… PEOPLE ALWAYS TALKIN BOUT HER BUT THEY DONT SAY NOTHING ABOUT RIHANNA WHO DOESNT WRITE SHIT AND CANT SING LIVE BUT I LOVE HER THOUGH…AND WHO EVER SAID THAT BEYONCE SALES LESS THAN ALICIA HONEY PLZ ALCIA KEYS IS NO RICHER, AND BEYONCE IS HE FIRST PERSON THIS DECADE TO HAV 12 TOP TEN HITS AND LIKE 8 OF THEM WENT NUMBER 1…. SO PEOPLE NEED TO LAY OFF BECAUSE BEYONCE RIHANNA AND I HAVE TO SAY IT EVEN THOUGH I HATE TO BUT ALSO KERI HILSON ARE THE 3 FEMALES THAT ARE THE BEST IN THE GAME

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(T) iN tHe ZoNe
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:35 am
LOL to Matt
Im glad that bey had that song coz she always makes it her own and it fits her persona or “EGO”
whether she writes it or not:-D

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thaKING
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:43 am
EGO is garbage anyways so who cares.
Beyonce doesn’t write her own songs. The songs that she did write are garbage.
Mariah carey writes ALOT of her music.
Alicia Keys writes ALL of her music and Alicia has surpassed Beyonce in sales as well.

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Lola
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 am
sales beyonce is the number 1 selling selling female artist of the decade. she has the most top tens, top 20 and number 1′s.

and to the ass hole who said the i am sasha flop comment. check who has the number one selling album on the charts this year. guess her name . . . .BEYONCE AKA QUEEN B!

and if ego is garbage y is it number 2 on the r&b charts.

check your facts b4 u start hating.

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Essyej
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:12 am
Does Beyonce write any of her own material? She’s getting played out to me. I’ll take Mariah over B anyday.

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crunkpoet
July 23rd, 2009 at 12:51 pm
we all knew beyonce dont write shit!

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Twitter.com/R3trooutcast
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
@lola

Wow
Britney spears is the top selling female artist this decade so check your stats

Number 1s is Definetly mariah carey

Top 40 song britney has 21 this decade one more than nelly for the lead since 1999 so check your stats

Im a beyonce fan but she don’t have most sales or number ones so don’t speak wut isent true

Rihanna n BEY hot 100 number 1sare tied if im not misitaken with number ones

Billboard hot 100….Beyonce!
Crazy in love,baby boy,irreplacable,single ladies would be 4

Rihanna,
Sos,umbrilla,take a bow, dIsturbia

Beyonce the Truth but lets State real facts notopinions

Goin based off Hot 100
Not r&b charts those don’t count every genre

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Cari
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
LOL thedevil what are you talking about?
Mariah doesnt demand cowriting credits, she has written and cowritten her own songs since the beginning of her career. Why would she stop now?

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Matt.Beezy
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:21 pm
word Matt lol…

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Obssed
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:44 pm
She wouldn’t have did that good on ego

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Sassy Pandaz » Blog Archive » Beyonce Doesn’t Write Her Own Songs?!!!!111
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
[...] to a new interview with Rap-Up, Chrisette Michele has revealed that Beyonce’s hit single "Ego" was originally [...]
To My Fans
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Omg! I never thought that I viewed upon like this. Well, I do in fact write my own songs and no, I do not demand credentials to my songs. I get help and I co-write most of them. Hopefully I provided some perspective to my fans and the people who one day will enjoy my music. Thank you all for your support! Signing out…
Mrs. Z.

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Kolocho Kitler
July 24th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Whatever…Beyonce’s “EGO” is a huge.

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king fresh
July 24th, 2009 at 8:10 am
things happen 4 a reason,

it aint like chrisette coulda made the ego we kno today..

come on folks, i aint a hater but if she did record this song, people wooda really not cared cuh her ego aint really like that…

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buddyreal
July 24th, 2009 at 8:22 am
wow>>>lets talk about wat we coulda/woulda/shoulda had<<<

im married n ____/____/____/ had ho3s on deck..

get outta hear with that..CHOICE WAS MADE!!!

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BeeNYC
July 24th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Why everybody buggin this is standard in the industry, artist get writing credit no matter how minor the contribution, even Diddy does that n it’s well known he uses ghostwriters.
Beyonce never said she wrote the whole album alone with no help so…how she lying???
If a song is hot and Beyonce tweaks it to fit her style what’s the problem, Chrisette Michele didn’t write ‘What You Do’ doesn’t make her or Bey any less talented.
Some people better with the pen, than others, talent is talent, so stop hatin cuz u ain’t got none!

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J*
July 25th, 2009 at 8:24 am
lol @ lola

Britney spears is the top selling female artist of this decade.

NOT BEYONCE! **giggles at your stupidity**

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KP
July 26th, 2009 at 12:41 am
“Ego” is a trashy song. Period. Chrisette is better than that.

But if she wanted to, Chrisette would have killed it.

These Beyonce stans kill me. I don’t care if she wrote it or not, but history repeats itself (a.k.a. the “Irreplaceable” Ne-Yo claim).

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Nay-g
September 16th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
LOL at the person who said Chrisette can’t hang with Beyonce vocally. You obviously don’t know what singing is. Not taking anything away from Beyonce, but not only can Chrisette with the best of them, she is a classically trained singer and can write lyrics that won’t sound outdated a decade from now. Miss Jay-Z is fabulous, but lets give props where props is due.

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Angel
October 20th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I will be so happy when this Beyonce crap dies down and God takes over and gets rid of all evil and anybody who worship celebrities because you people act like Beyonce and everything she does is more important then your families I mean I’m not hating anyways can’t hate on someone I don’t know,but yaw really need to come back down to reality people are going to continued to get hated on it ain’t just celebrities it’s everybody!!!

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Platinum B.
May 21st, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Wow. NO ONE WRITES THAT COMPLETE OWN SONGS! NO ONE! This whole controversy of who writes their own songs or not is starting to really really get old. THEY ARE SONGS! NOT LIFE OR DEATH THREATS! Get over it! Beyonce’ is not perfect. Neither is Chrisette Michelle. Nor is any other singer. This is the MUSIC INDUSTRY. This is not high school &nd your just trying to find out who’s cheating on who. If you don’t know anything about the music industry, then WHY talk about what someone else is doing??

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