14 DAY TRIAL // A 26-year-old computer arts student did in just a couple of hours what no critic has managed to do ever since Beyonce broke on the music scene: tarnish the singer’s reputation, even temporarily and unintentionally. By posting a doctored recording of Beyonce singing “If I Were a Boy” on his YouTube channel, Zeghibe made many wonder about the singer’s vocal abilities, but that was not intentional, he explains in a video on the same channel.
What he really wanted was, in the first place, to show his friends a good time, and secondly, to show the world how easy it was to manipulate artists and, at the same time, the media. Granted, not even he expected this kind of reaction, with the audio being picked by Howard Stern and then played on his radio show as the real deal, and millions rushing to say “I told you so” as regarded Beyonce singing live. Still, the hoaxer says he did not mean any offense by it, therefore feels not the need to apologize, especially since he caused no harm – moreover, Beyonce said she was happy with the free promotion she got.
“I was just trying to make a point. I wanted to show people how easy it is to manipulate someone’s voice. If I can do it with a clip I pulled off of TV, imagine what they are doing on records and during live performances. The entire industry has been so manipulated, because there’s such an emphasis on perfection, so when something like this happens, it causes such a stir.” Zeghibe shares, adding that he is actually a “secret fan of Beyonce,” so he would certainly not tarnish her reputation as a solid performer on purpose.
Nevertheless, the way the media and Beyonce critics (labeled by her father and manager “idiot haters”) reacted was more than surprising. “It’s wild how much the story’s been twisted. It’s just always been fun for me to manipulate artists, and make it sound crazy. It was just for a good laugh. It was a goof, just for fun. I do a lot of parodies on my YouTube channel, and it just so happens this one got a little out of hand. […] A lot of people had a lot of laughs because of it, so why should I apologize? If you can’t poke fun at yourself, I don’t know what kind of person you are.” the hoaxer further explains.
As most fans must know by now, the doctored recording was supposed to be the real soundboard recording of the “If I Were a Boy” track, dating from November 2008, when Beyonce appeared on the Today show. The recording was found by someone on Howard Stern’s staff, was picked up and then the rumor that Beyonce couldn’t actually sing live spread like wild fire throughout the Internet.