Ms. Jackson

"Ms. Jackson"
Single by OutKast
from the album Stankonia
B-side	"Sole Sunday" "Elevators (Me & You)"
Released	October 3, 2000
Format	12" CD
Recorded	2000
Genre	Alternative hip hop
Length	4:30 (album version) 4:03 (radio edit)
Label	Arista RCA
Writer(s)	André Benjamin Antwan Patton David Sheats Richard Wagner Shuggie Otis
Producer(s)	Earthtone III
OutKast singles chronology
"B.O.B" (2000) "Ms. Jackson" (2000) "So Fresh, So Clean" (2001)

"Ms. Jackson" is a song by American alternative hip hop duo OutKast. It was released on October 3, 2000, as the second single from their fourth album, Stankonia. It topped the U.S. charts, and won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. It also reached number one in Germany and number two in the United Kingdom, held from the top spot by Atomic Kitten's "Whole Again". In October 2011, NME placed it at number 81 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[1]

The single helped sell the album following the commercial underperformance of the lead single "B.O.B.", which, despite nearly universal acclaim from critics, failed to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and only reached number 69 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[2]

Background and writing

In Vibe, a few years after the fact, Andre recalled creating the song; "'Ms. Jackson' was an acoustic guitar song that I was doing at home. Then I just converted it over into something people could understand a little bit more."^[3] The song was inspired, in part, by Andre's relationship with Erykah Badu and her mother. ^[4]

Content

The song discusses the problems that break-ups, separation, and divorce can have on a couple, and the animosity that a woman's mother can have for her daughter's former boyfriend or husband.

The video works as a possible metaphor for the duo's "stormy" relationships with the mothers of their children and their families (themes expressed by the duo in the song). The storm theme is alluded to in the song, particularly by André 3000: "Me and your daughter got a special thing going on/You say it's puppy love, we say it's full grown/Hope that we feel this, feel this way forever/You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can't predict the weather, Ms. Jackson."

The song samples The Brothers Johnson's version (with pitch shifting and reversing) of "Strawberry Letter 23" by Shuggie Otis and features an altered version of a tune from "Bridal Chorus" from the opera Lohengrin by German composer Richard Wagner (also known as the "wedding march"), played on piano.

Track listing

UK CD1

1. "Ms. Jackson" (UK Radio Edit) – 3:36
2. "Elevators (Me & You)" – 4:56
3. "Ms. Jackson" (Video) – 4:58

UK CD2

1. "Ms. Jackson" (Radio Mix) – 4:03
2. "Ms. Jackson" (Instrumental) – 4:34
3. "Sole Sunday" (Radio Mix) - 4:41
4. "Sole Sunday" (Instrumental) - 4:41

European CD Single

1. "Ms. Jackson" (Radio Mix) – 4:03
2. "Ms. Jackson" (Instrumental) – 4:34

Charts

Chart (2000–01)	Peak position
scope="row"	Australia (ARIA)[5]	2
scope="row"	Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6]	3
scope="row"	Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7]	2
scope="row"	Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[8]	5
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[9]	9
scope="row"	Denmark (Tracklisten)[10]	3
scope="row"	Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[11]	8
scope="row"	France (SNEP)[12]	5
scope="row"	Germany (Official German Charts)[13]	1
scope="row"	Ireland (IRMA)[14]	5
scope="row"	Italy (FIMI)[15]	9
scope="row"	Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16]	1
scope="row"	New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17]	5
scope="row"	Norway (VG-lista)[18]	1
Romania (Romanian Top 100)[19]	6
scope="row"	Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20]	1
scope="row"	Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21]	2
UK R&B (UK R&B Singles and Albums Charts)[22]	1
scope="row"	UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[23]	2
scope="row"	US Billboard Hot 100[24]	1
scope="row"	US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[25]	1
scope="row"	US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[26]	13

Chart successions

References

1. "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". Nme.Com. 2015-11-16. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
2. allmusic ((( Stankonia > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))
3. Vibe Magazine, October 2003, p. 128
4. Johnson, Cherise. Erykah Badu Shares How The Real "Ms. Jackson" Felt About Outkast's Apologetic Hit. Retrieved on November 28, 2016.
5. "Australian-charts.com – Outkast – Ms. Jackson". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
6. "Austriancharts.at – Outkast – Ms. Jackson" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
7. "Ultratop.be – Outkast – Ms. Jackson" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
8. "Ultratop.be – Outkast – Ms. Jackson" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
9. "OutKast > Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
10. "Danishcharts.com – Outkast – Ms. Jackson". Tracklisten. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
11. "Outkast: Ms. Jackson" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
12. "Lescharts.com – Outkast – Ms. Jackson" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
13. "Musicline.de – Outkast Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
14. "Chart Track: Week 8, 2001". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
15. "Italiancharts.com – Outkast – Ms. Jackson". Top Digital Download. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
16. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 5, 2001" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved July 21, 2012.
17. "Charts.org.nz – Outkast – Ms. Jackson". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
18. "Norwegiancharts.com – Outkast – Ms. Jackson". VG-lista. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
19. Romanian 2001 end-of-year charts at the Wayback Machine (archived December 9, 2002)
20. "Swedishcharts.com – Outkast – Ms. Jackson". Singles Top 100. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
21. "Swisscharts.com – Outkast – Ms. Jackson". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
22. http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/r-and-b-singles-chart/20010225/114/
23. "Archive Chart: 2001-03-03" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
24. "OutKast – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for OutKast. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
25. "OutKast – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for OutKast. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
26. "OutKast – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for OutKast. Retrieved July 21, 2012.

External links

• Music video on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics