America Has a Problem samples Kilo Ali's 1990 cut of the same title, borrowing the synth stabs that start the song off along with the a capella chant "America? America has a problem". Released in the midst of the crack epidemic, Kilo Ali's song speaks on the downward spiral from friend to fiend, along with the health, legal and mental problems it can cause to those who either use it or sell it. More than 20 years later, Beyoncé's version remixes it with an eerie bassline that keeps that same emotion, comparing her addictiveness to that of the powder with lines like "I'ma make you go weak for me/ Make you wait a whole week for me/ I see you watching, fiending/ I know you want it, scheming."

Source: Los Angeles Times August 06, 2022 20:36 UTC