Nicki Minaj Gets Backlash For Dissing Rosa Parks

Nicki Minaj‘s new song “Yikes” isn’t out yet, but the Queens rapper is already receiving backlash for a verse that references Rosa Parks.

Nicki Minaj on Tuesday, February 4 shared a video on her Instagram page in which she previewed a snippet of her upcoming track “Yikes”. With her husband Kenneth Petty in tow, Nicki rapped the opening verse of the new song which likened her haters to Rosa Parks, the late civil right activist whose refusal to give up her seat to a white man sparked the historic Birmingham bus boycott.

“All you b__ches Rosa Parks, uh oh, get your ass up.”

 

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#Yikes I play tag & u #IT for life. #Yikes You a 🤡 you do IT for likes 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

A post shared by Barbie (@nickiminaj) on Feb 3, 2020 at 7:12pm PST

The ill-timed reference was released coincidentally, on what would have been Rosa Parks’ 107th birthday — and during Black History Month.

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has called her “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake’s order to relinquish her seat in the “colored section” to a white passenger, after the whites-only section was filled.

A number of people took to Twitter to call out Nicki Minaj for the Rosa Parks reference, claiming that it was disrespectful:

When Nicki rapped “All you bitches Rosa Parks Uh Oh get cho ass up”, not only was it disrespectful it didn’t make sense. Rosa Parks did NOT get up. Is Nicki rapping from the position of the white racist who told Parks to get up?

I need Nicki’s #BussyLivesMatter fans to help me https://t.co/Eed4G1EsRm

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) February 4, 2020

Nicki really said “All you b*tches Rosa parks, uh oh getcha ass up” on black history month.😭 Her mind. #NickiMinaj pic.twitter.com/99MZf8bGp6

— Sade’ (@SadeIsaiah_) February 4, 2020

Harriet Tubman, Rosa parks , Aretha Franklin, Michel Jackson , and malcom x zombies coming to get Nicki after she rap those lines #NickiMinaj #YikesNM5 #RosaParks pic.twitter.com/3rJ8lOg3QA

— 🌪Ju_Kahn🌪 (@Quori_070) February 4, 2020

Meanwhile, there are some that are of the opinion that the controversial line is a double entendre (a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to be understood in two ways, having a double meaning). A Twitter user @hiphop_issues took to his timeline to explain the double meaning of the controversial verse:

So some people were confused about @NICKIMINAJ Rosa Parks reference bar in #Yikes, others didn’t understand the meaning, and immediately called it “disrespectful.” So I took the liberty to break it down 👀 pic.twitter.com/1o8J7WXD1L

— The State Of Hip Hop (@hiphop_issues) February 4, 2020

Although Rosa Parks was sitting down, she made an impact. But others are lazy, “sitting down,” trying to attain an equal result as Rosa, so they trying to make an impact but their approach isn’t getting them there. So basically they gotta “get their ass up” and get to work….

— The State Of Hip Hop (@hiphop_issues) February 4, 2020

…for it, and NOT for a sake of standing for something/trying to make a real impact.

— The State Of Hip Hop (@hiphop_issues) February 4, 2020

Having said all that. I hope my explanation helped in any way…. Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A TRUE ICON AND LEGEND ROSA PARKS thank you for breaking barriers and making an impact. “YIKES” is a vibe, can’t wait till it drops. 🙏🏿

— The State Of Hip Hop (@hiphop_issues) February 4, 2020