Released February 10, 1998 Length 4:27 Writer(s) Lauryn Hill | Recorded 1997 Label Arista | |
Genre Hip hop soul
neo soul
R&B | ||
"A Rose Is Still a Rose" is a 1998 single written and produced by Lauryn Hill and recorded and released by singer Aretha Franklin off the album of the same name. Written by Hill for Franklin, the song is feminist-based, focused on a motherly figure giving advice to a younger woman who keeps getting into bad relationships. Throughout the song, Franklin advises that in spite of everything and despite the woman's "scorned roses and thorn crowns" that the woman is "still a rose". Elements of the song "What I Am" by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians were sung throughout the song by Hill herself. The video features Franklin, Hill and other female R&B singers such as Faith Evans, Changing Faces, and Amel Larrieux and featured Elise Neal in the video as the protagonist. Released in 1998, the song became a surprise hit for Franklin, 40-plus years into her career, reaching number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number-five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart while also reaching the UK top 40. The song helped its parent album reach gold status and remains one of Franklin's most played songs from her later years.