Rosa Parks (song)

:"This article discusses the OutKast single. For the Civil Rights activist, see Rosa Parks."Infobox Single |
Name = Rosa Parks

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Artist = OutKast
from Album = Aquemini
B-side =
Released = March 23, 1999
Format = CD
Recorded = 1998
Genre = Southern hip hop
Length = 3:57 (Single version)
Label = LaFace Records/Arista Records
Writer = OutKast
Last single = "Jazzy Belle" (1997)
This single = "Rosa Parks" (1998)
Next single = "Skew It on the Bar-B" (1998)

"Rosa Parks" is a song by the hip hop group OutKast. It was released as the first single from their 1998 album "Aquemini", and was that album's most successful single. The song's title comes from the civil rights activist Rosa Parks. It contains samples from Curtis Mayfield's song "Superfly".

Lawsuit

In 1999, OutKast and LaFace Records were sued by Rosa Parks over the song. The lawsuit alleged that the song misappropriated Parks' name, and also objected to some of the song's obscene language.

The song's lyrics were largely unrelated to Parks, save for a line in the chorus: "Ah ha, hush that fuss / Everybody move to the back of the bus". The song, which OutKast maintained was intended partly as homage, only refers to Parks as a metaphor: the purpose of the song's chorus is to imply that OutKast is overturning hip hop's old order, that people should make way for a new style and sound. The initial lawsuit was dismissed. Parks' representation hired lawyer Johnnie Cochran to appeal the decision in 2001, but the appeal was denied on First Amendment grounds. In 2003, the Supreme Court allowed Parks' lawyers to proceed with the lawsuit.

In 2004, the judge in the case appointed an impartial representative for Parks after her family expressed concerns that her caretakers and her lawyers were pursuing the case based on their own financial interest. Later that same year, the members of OutKast were dropped as co-defendants, and Parks' lawyers continued to seek action against LaFace and parent company BMG. In 2003 André told UK journalist Angus Batey that, following a Detroit concert in the midst of the legal battle, relatives of Parks had approached him and implied that the case was less to do with Rosa than with the lawyers. [" [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20029-2302431.html The Times, August 2006] "] The suit was finally settled on April 14, 2005, with neither OutKast nor their label having to admit any wrongdoing. The group did, however, have to agree to perform some sort of tribute to Parks: as of August 2006, the nature of this tribute had not been decided, and OutKast had not completed it.

Chart peformance

"Rosa Parks" was minorly successful on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #55. The single also charted at #19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at #19. The single's highest chart position was at #4 on the Rhythmic Top 40.

References