Choosing to refrain from uttering the song’s more profane lyrics, the Roots stuck with the beginning’s of the ska-rock song, singing the track’s distinctive “la la la la la la la la la” refrain.
As many would assume, the song is, of course, about a relationship turned sour by an — ahem — “lyin a– b—ch” and not about any politicians. But Bachmann seemed completely unaware of the song’s lyrics as she walked across the stage, or at least convincingly pretended not to.
But the show’s well-educated music fans did take note of the song and later in the day, the band’s leader, Questlove, took to Twitter to explain that the song was a “tongue-in-cheek and spur of the moment decision.”
Questlove continued, “The show was not aware of it and I feel bad if her feelings were hurt. That was not my intention.”
Neither Bachmann’s campaign nor any “Late Night” officials have commented on the matter, but Fallon did joke on Twitter that “@questlove is grounded.”
For the sake of decency, we hope that Bachmann wasn’t offended, but we have to admit, that was darn good joke on the part of The Roots. Like the “Lyin’ A– B—h” fiasco, here are five other controversial moments between hip-hop and politics. –nicholas robinson
