90's Hit Parade #91

Outkast - Rosa Parks

I've listened to this song many times, and I'll be damned if I can figure what it has to do with Rosa Parks outside of the "Everybody move to the back of the bus" hook. Is it a dance step? Are we "doin' the Rosa Parks?" Well, Southern hip hop has never been particularly concerned with consciousness raising. The point of the song is in the ludicrous efficiency of that party starter chorus, the pimp flare of the vocals, and most of all that dead funky harmonica breakdown on the bridge, one of the funkiest moments in recorded hip hop. It's kinda cool that Outkast could make the great civil rights icon into a dance step. Bonus points for including one of my favorite Southern idioms, "or either," in the lyrics.