Beyoncé Samples Jamaican-Born Drag Queen Moi Renee On ‘Renaissance’
Jamaican-born Moi Renee was one of twelve Black queer icons that inspired Beyoncé’s new 16-track album, Renaissance, according to CNN.
The late drag queen’s dance classic Miss Honey (1992) was revived on Pure/Honey, the penultimate song on Bey’s new collection. Pure/Honey also samples Kevin Aviance’s Cunty (1999) and MikeQ’s Feels Like with Kevin JZ Prodigy (2011)
Miss Honey, produced by Frank Fuentes, was the only known recording by Renee released only on 12” vinyl in circa 1992 from Project X Records. Beyoncé’s song features Renee purring the original lyrics, “I know you hear me calling you, miss honey!”
The spoken-word dance tune was considered an early illustration of a ‘b-tch track’ – a subgenre of house, and became a ballroom classic. Long-forgotten music archives show footage of the performer on The Sybil Bruncheon Show – a local gay talk show in the ’90s, donning a neon-green bouffant wig with just as striking neon white lipstick in a black cutout bodysuit dishing Miss Honey with his hilariously overconfident attitude and blasé backup dancers.
Moi Renee was one of the dolls of New York’s queer nightlife scene in the 90s, bringing his live performances to hot spots such as The Shelter, Midtown 43, Tracks, One Hot Spot, and Better Days. It was at the, now defunct (Club Shelter) The Shelter that the drag legend gained fame as one of the venue’s most popular entertainers and eventually carved out her own niche. He became known for his super-camp performances, before ultimately releasing his genre-shifting hit track. The song received heavy airplay at gay dance clubs, tea dances, and balls.
Renee, a Jamaica native, moved to Philadelphia in the late 70s as a child. By the early 90s, he was eager to make a name for himself and took off to New York City fresh out of high school at 19 years old. Moi would go on to pursue Dance at the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.
Moi Renee didn’t live long enough to reap the fame.
The singer was found dead in a hotel room in 1997. Authorities ruled the cause of death as suicide. Close friends have disputed the findings, however, and believe Renee was murdered. “He just did not possess that in his personality,” recalls childhood friend Beau McCall in a Queerty interview. “Suicide would be the last thing that he would attempt to try to do to himself, so I have a hard time believing that.”
Despite Renee’s passing, Miss Honey has lived on as an underground classic. The track has since been remixed numerous times on a new generation of Dance mixes. In 2018, a bootleg reworking by UK DJ and producer Eats Everything hit Spotify, bringing the previously rare track to the streaming generation.
Along with Renee, Beyoncé’s celebration of Black queer pioneers in her Renaissance album also included another Jamaican icon.
The illustrious Grace Jones appears on the collection’s 10th track Move. In the uptempo dance-floor beat, Jones delivers the catchy lines “Brukup, It’s Brukup, It’s Brukup,” an ode to celebrated Jamaican dancer/contortionist, George “Bruk Up” Adams.