Nicki Minaj Faces Backlash After Referencing Rosa Parks in Single Previewed on Icon's Birthday

Georgia Slater
·3 min read

Nicki Minaj is being slammed on social media for taking a shot at civil rights icon Rosa Parks in her latest single on what would have been the activist’s 107th birthday.

On Tuesday, the rapper shared a preview of her upcoming track, tentatively titled “Yikes,” to Instagram, which quickly solicited backlash from listeners who heard Parks’ name used in the song.

“All you bitches Rosa Parks, uh oh, get your ass up,” Minaj, 37, raps in reference to Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.

As Minaj released the snippet during Black History Month — especially on Parks’ birthday — many listeners were upset by the lyric and urged the rapper to “leave Rosa alone.”

A rep for Minaj did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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One user pointed out a factual inconsistency within Minaj’s lyric.

“Quick history lesson: She never got up, she stayed seated. The lyric makes no sense,” the user wrote, adding “Y’all go remind Nicki Minaj that.”

Another person argued that Rosa Parks “fought the good fight” and that Minaj should “let them ladies Rest In Peace.”

 

One person filmed what they believed would be the reaction of “Rosa Parks in heaven listening to Nicki Minaj.” In the clip, the user looks offended by the lyric.

“Sis it’s Black History Month, leave Rosa alone,” another wrote.

“Why did Nicki Minaj slam Rosa Parks on her birthday?” one user asked, before quipping “This is why we listen to cardi b in our house.”

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Before Minaj announced “Yikes,” she last worked with Meghan Trainor for her album, Treat Myself, her first album in nearly four years.

The two collaborated for the song “Nice to Meet Ya”, which the Grammy winner called “legendary.”

“My manager started managing her so that was my in. They told me she doesn’t do a feature, she has to really like the song. So I was so excited,” Trainor, 26, says of working with the rapper.

“Dude, in high school I used to party to her songs all the time and learned every single word. So this was like a huge deal for me. She actually is one of my favorite songwriters.”