"Piggyback" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Song by Melanie Martinez | ||||
Released | December 22, 2017 | |||
Length | 3:27 | |||
Label | Self-released | |||
Songwriter(s) | Melanie Martinez [1] | |||
Producer(s) | Michael Keenan [1] | |||
Melanie Martinez singles chronology | ||||
|
"Piggyback" (stylized in all caps) is a song recorded by American singer Melanie Martinez. It was independently released for streaming on her [lower-alpha 1] SoundCloud account on December 22, 2017, following a controversy between Martinez and Timothy Heller. The latter, a person with whom the singer once shared a friendship, accused her via Twitter of sexually assaulting and raping them. Various music critics associated the lyrics of "Piggyback" with the incident. Over an electronic arrangement, Martinez references her journey as an artist and the fake people she had met in her life. Critics interpreted the track's refrain as a response to Heller's accusations.
In early December 2017, Timothy Heller, a woman with whom Melanie Martinez once shared a friendship, accused the latter via Twitter of sexually assaulting and raping her. [2] In response to Heller's accusations, Martinez tweeted that the allegations "horrified and saddened" her and that Heller "never said no to what they chose to do together", insinuating that she believed there was consent. [3] The singer subsequently released a second statement, thanking her fans for pointing out Heller's "false statements" and that she would "never be intimate with someone without their absolute consent." [4] In less than 20 days after the incident, Martinez wrote and recorded "Piggyback". [5] She independently released the song for streaming as a single on her SoundCloud account on December 22, 2017, lasting three minutes and 27 seconds. [6] [7] [8]
Music critics believed that "Piggyback" revolved around the accusations Heller made towards Martinez. [6] [7] [9] PopCrush 's Lai Frances thought that the singer was additionally referencing "'fake' and 'plastic' people she's met in her life". [6] The song begins with Martinez detailing her journey as an artist over a "simple" electronic arrangement: "Trusted too many fake people while I was still young. Gave them the benefit of the doubt, I was so wrong." According to Mike Wass of Idolator , Martinez responds to the aforementioned accusations in the refrain: "I'm so done with playing piggyback, swear to god I wished y'all all the best. You're lying your way to try and gain a piece of me when you could never come close cause I know my destiny." Other lyrics of the track include: "I worked hard for my shit, put my love in this shit. Now you're trying to kill my name for some fame, what is this?" [7] [9] [10]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Piggyback" | 3:27 |
Country | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Various [6] | December 22, 2017 | Streaming | Self-released |
Daniel Peter Masterson is an American actor. He played Steven Hyde in That '70s Show (1998–2006), Milo Foster in Men at Work (2012–2014), and Jameson "Rooster" Bennett in The Ranch (2016–2018). In May 2023, Masterson was convicted of raping two women in 2003. A third count of rape resulted in a hung jury. In September 2023, he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. Masterson is a Scientologist, as were his victims at the time of the assaults. The Church of Scientology's attempts to silence the victims, and its subsequent interference, resulted in a 20-year delay in bringing the crimes to justice.
Ali Bouali, known professionally as Ali B, is a Moroccan and Dutch rapper and entertainer. He is one of the most prominent rappers in the Netherlands and has collaborated with musicians such as Akon and Marco Borsato. He is seen as a leading figure in Dutch inter-ethnic relations.
A false accusation of rape happens when a person states that they or another person have been raped when no rape has occurred.
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States (1993–2001), has been publicly accused of sexual misconduct, including rape, harassment, and sexual assault. Additionally, some commentators have characterized Clinton's sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky as predatory or non-consensual, despite the fact that Lewinsky called the relationship consensual at the time. These allegations have been revisited and lent more credence in 2018, in light of the #MeToo movement, with many commentators and Democratic leaders now saying Clinton should have been compelled to resign after the Lewinsky scandal.
Blood on the Dance Floor was an American electronic music group from Orlando, Florida, formed in 2006. The group's longest standing lineup, from 2009 to 2016, consisted of Jesus David Torres, also known as Dahvie Vanity and Jayy Von Monroe. The group released nine studio albums before breaking up in 2016 following Von Monroe's departure. It was reformed by Vanity the following year, initially with Fallon Vendetta. After Vendetta's departure, Vanity became the sole member of the group. Since 2019, Vanity has performed under the name Kawaii Monster and most recently The Most Vivid Nightmares. The band was named after the song "Blood on the Dance Floor" by Michael Jackson.
Melanie Adele Martinez is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Astoria, Queens, and raised in Baldwin, New York, Martinez rose to fame in 2012 after appearing on season 3 of the American television talent show The Voice. Following the show, she was signed to Atlantic Records and released her debut single "Dollhouse", followed by her debut extended play of the same name (2014).
In late 2014, multiple allegations emerged that Bill Cosby, an American media personality, had sexually assaulted dozens of women throughout his career. Cosby was well known in the United States for his eccentric image, and gained a reputation as "America's Dad" for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show (1984–1992). He received numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout his career, many of which have since been revoked. There had been previous allegations against Cosby, but they were dismissed and accusers were ignored or disbelieved.
"A Rape on Campus" is a retracted, defamatory Rolling Stone magazine article written by Sabrina Erdely and originally published on November 19, 2014, that describes a purported group sexual assault at the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Rolling Stone retracted the story in its entirety on April 5, 2015. The article claimed that UVA student Jackie Coakley had been taken to a party hosted by UVA's Phi Kappa Psi fraternity by a fellow student and led to a bedroom to be gang raped by several fraternity members as part of a fraternity initiation ritual.
Mormon abuse cases are cases of confirmed and alleged abuse, including child sexual abuse, by churches in the Latter Day Saint movement and its agents.
The Baylor University sexual assault scandal was the result of numerous allegations of and convictions for sexual and non-sexual assaults committed by Baylor University students, mostly players on the Baylor Bears football team. During a period from about 2012 to 2016, school officials suppressed reports of rapes and sexual misconduct. In 2016, Baylor's football team came under fire when it was revealed university officials had failed to take action regarding the alleged rapes and assaults. The scandal led to the ousting of head football coach Art Briles, the demotion and eventual resignation of Baylor president Ken Starr, the resignation of athletic director Ian McCaw, and the firing of two others connected with the football program. It also led to the resignation of Baylor's Title IX Coordinator, Patty Crawford. A plaintiff's attorney, Jim Dunnam, accused Baylor of implementing a ″concerted strategy to get the public to believe this is entirely and only a football-related problem."
Donald Trump, the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media. He has made lewd comments, disparaged women's physical appearances, and referred to them using derogatory epithets. Since the 1970s, at least 26 women have publicly accused Trump of rape, kissing, and groping without consent; looking under women's skirts; and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. Trump has denied all of the allegations.
Murray Selig Miller is an American television writer and producer. Miller has produced and written for many television programs, including King of the Hill, American Dad!, Girls, 7 Days in Hell (2015) and Tour de Pharmacy (2017).
In October 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker reported that dozens of women had accused the American film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse over a period of at least 30 years. Over 80 women in the film industry eventually accused Weinstein of such acts. Weinstein himself denied "any non-consensual sex". Shortly after, he was dismissed from The Weinstein Company (TWC), expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and other professional associations, and retired from public view.
#MeToo is a social movement and awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual assault survivor and activist Tarana Burke. The hashtag #MeToo was used starting in 2017 as a way to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem. "Me Too" empowers those who have been sexually assaulted through empathy, solidarity and strength in numbers, by visibly demonstrating how many have experienced sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
The 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals saw a heightened period of allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment and assault, and resulted in the subsequent firings and resignations of American politicians. Some of the allegations are linked to the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases starting in October 2017 amid the wider MeToo movement.
There have been many reported cases and accusations of sexual abuse in the American film industry reported against people related to the medium of cinema of the United States.
The Indian#MeToo movement began in late 2018 to manifest in areas of the Indian society including the government, the media, and the Bollywood film industry. In India, the Me Too movement is seen as either an independent outgrowth influenced by the international campaign against sexual harassment of women in the workplace, or an offshoot of the American "Me Too" social movement. Me Too began gaining prominence in India with the increasing popularity of the international movement, and later gathered sharp momentum in October 2018 in the entertainment industry of Bollywood, centered in Mumbai, when actress Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexual harassment. This led to many women in the news media, Indian films, and even within the government to speak out and bring allegations of sexual harassment against a number of perpetrators.
#HimToo is a social movement supporting male victims of sexual assault and false rape allegations, though the latter has been criticized as perpetuating myths about the prevalence of false reports. The reaction to the #MeToo movement started in October 2018 after a tweet from a mother about her son being afraid to date because of a climate of false rape allegations. It rose to greater prominence during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. The #HimToo movement was a response to the sexual assault allegations from the #MeToo movement.
The Sarah Jane Parkinsoncase, involving Canberra resident Sarah Jane White, was a 2014 legal situation in which an innocent party, Daniel Jones, was falsely accused of rape and acts of domestic abuse by Parkinson, his former fiancé, who had since grown bored with him while dating police officer Scott John White. Jones was arrested and jailed in 2014, while Parkinson and White lived in his house and eventually married. Owing to mounting evidence establishing Jones's innocence, Jones was released, and Parkinson was convicted for her false accusations. She served two years out of a three-year sentence, after which she legally changed her surname to White upon release.
The MeToo movement, an effort to publicize and criticize sexual abuse and harassment, was founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke, and spread virally on social media following the exposure of numerous sexual-abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017. Since then, the #MeToo hashtag has trended in at least 85 countries.