Erykah Badu Fined For Indecency Over Nude "Window Seat" Video

Erykah Badu's nude stroll through Dallas for her low-budget "Window Seat" video will end up costing the singer $500 in fines. One unsuspecting witness of the guerrilla video shoot filed an indecency complaint against Badu, claiming "she and her two small children were offended" by Badu's actions, the Dallas Morning News reports. That one complaint was all the Dallas police needed to issue a disorderly conduct citation against Badu, which Deputy Chief Mike Genovesi says will be delivered to the singer next week.

As Rolling Stone reported this morning, while no one called the cops during the video shoot, Dallas police were actively seeking for witnesses to step forward and file a formal complaint against Badu in order to press some sort of charges and, in the longer term, use Badu's actions to springboard overall changes in Dallas' stance of "no permit necessary" for video shoots in the city. When Badu is given the citation, it'll be a Class C misdemeanor — the Dallas Morning News compares it to a traffic ticket — and result in a $500 fine. "None of this would have occurred had she stayed clothed," Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway told reporters.

The $500 was likely worth it for Badu: "Window Seat" exploded virally the same week the singer's New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ahnk hit stores — even Caraway admits being a fan of "Window Seat," the song — and Badu inspired Rolling Stone to look back at other NSFW classics with A Short History of Nude Music Videos. For more on this week's "Window Seat" drama, click below:

• Police May Charge Erykah Badu for Nude "Window Seat" Video
• Erykah Badu's "Window Seat" Video Inspired By Matt & Kim, Kennedy Assassination
• "Window Seat" to "Justify My Love": A Short History of Nude Music Videos

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

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