As Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson” celebrates its 25th anniversary on Friday (Oct. 24), Erykah Badu revealed her doubts about being the muse behind the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit.
Badu joined Popcast for an interview earlier this week, where she discussed being the subject of hip-hop songs. While the neo-soul icon doesn’t think “Ms. Jackson” is about herself, her mother, Kolleen Gipson, certainly is taking credit.
“I don’t think ‘Ms. Jackson’ was actually about me. I don’t think so, but people say it,” she said. “[My mom] thinks it was about her. She got the bumper sticker and the airbrush t-shirt. I think it says, ‘Sorry, Ms. Jackson.’”
For years, there’s been fan speculation and theories that “Ms. Jackson” was an apology letter from André 3000 to Erykah Badu’s family following their split. The former couple dated from 1995 to 1999 and welcomed a son in 1997, Seven Sirius Benjamin.
“Ms Jackson” arrived about a year after the Three Stacks-Badu break-up, fueling rumors connecting the track’s content to their relationship. It was the second single on Outkast’s Stankonia album, which was released a week later on Halloween in 2000.
“Ms. Jackson” topped the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award for best rap performance by a duo or a group. The anthem has stood the test of time over the course of a quarter-century and feels embedded in the DNA of pop music with an earworm of a chorus.
Watch the interview below. Talk about “Ms. Jackson” takes place just shy of the 30-minute mark.