On Renaissance, Beyoncé reached back to the birth of disco in the 1970s to craft a well-studied homage to dance music. Now she’s keeping the ’70s throwbacks going: The pop star has joined soul icons Ronald Isley & the Isley Brothers for “Make Me Say It Again, Girl,†a reworking of their 1975 song “Make Me Say It Again Girl (Part 1 & 2).†Because if any girl could make them say it again, of course it’s Beyoncé! The song came out August 12 on all streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music. For this one, Bey is out of Club Renaissance, trading lines with Isley over a smooth, polished track. That makes sense given that Isley first teased it in a June 2021 Variety story over a year before the world knew Renaissance existed.
The song continues a trend of musicians reworking old material with newer artists as Elton John gets ready to release “Hold Me Closer,†a remake of “Tiny Dancer,†with Britney Spears. And it continues Beyoncé’s run of collaborations since Renaissance, including last week’s “Queens†remix of “Break My Soul,†an homage to Madonna over the “Vogue†beat. It also continues Beyoncé’s busy release schedule since Renaissance, which included dropping a pack of four other “Break My Soul†remixes. But please, can she release a music video next?
This post has been updated.